Ireland has denied the US an arrest warrant for whistleblower Edward Snowden in case he lands in the country, it has been revealed.

The High Court in Dublin ruled that Washington DC security chiefs failed to show where alleged crimes had been committed by the former intelligence contractor.

The US applied for a provisional arrest warrant on Friday through its Ballsbridge embassy.

Officials made the move after former spy Mr Snowden contacted 21 countries, including Ireland, seeking asylum.

There were concerns the fugitive intelligence officer, who has been living in the transit section of Moscow's Sheremetyevo-2 airport, would pass through Shannon Airport en route to South America.

A request for asylum in Ireland can only be considered if Snowden makes an application on arrival in the country.

Judge Colm Mac Eochaidh refused the request for an arrest warrant on the grounds that no information had been given by the US authorities about where the alleged offences took place.

The ruling also stated that the decision was taken because the US failed to show where the theft of government property took place or what had been stolen.

Judge Mac Eochaidh said offences may relate to theft of information and its misuse rather than to physical property but that assumptions could not be made that it took place in Hawaii.

Former NSA analyst Mr Snowden has requested asylum across the globe, in Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Poland, Spain, Switzerland and Venezuela.

He is wanted for leaking details of secret surveillance operations in the UK and US and has been in limbo since his arrival in Moscow from Hong Kong on June 23.

Russian president Vladimir Putin said Mr Snowden would have to stop leaking US secrets if he wanted to get asylum there.