'I would love to put a bullet in his head': NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden 'fears for his life after receiving anonymous death threats from Pentagon and NSA'

Edward Snowden has received anonymous death threats, his lawyer says

This NSA whistleblower now fears for his life and safety in Russia

Article quotes Pentagon source wanting to 'put a bullet in his head'



Fear for his life: Edward Snowden has allegedly received death threats from Pentagon and NSA officials

American intelligence leaker Edward Snowden fears for his life and needs stronger security, his Russian lawyer claimed on Tuesday.

Explicit threats to kill him have been made anonymously by Pentagon and National Security Agency officials, alleged Anatoly Kucherena.

‘There are real threats to his life out there that actually do exist,’ he told Russian news channel Vesti.



‘These statements call for physical retribution against Edward Snowden.’

Snowden, 30, has taken refuge in Moscow to evade treason charges after disclosing U.S. state secrets on NSA intelligence gathering involving the monitoring of millions of phone calls and emails.

There are recent U.S. claims that the former espionage contractor may have received Russian assistance before revealing his huge classified dossier in the name of transparency and openness.

Kucherana was referring to an article last week on BuzzFeed entitled ‘American Spies Want Edward Snowden Dead’.

It quoted a Pentagon official as saying: ‘I would love to put a bullet in his head.’

Another source described as a current NSA analyst said: ‘In a world where I would not be restricted from killing an American, I personally would go and kill him myself.’

Snowden has been carefully guarded in Moscow since he received temporary asylum in August a move which outraged the U.S. and led to President Barack Obama snubbing a summit invitation from his opposite number Vladimir Putin, a former spy.

‘Edward is treating these as real threats,’ said the Russian lawyer. ‘Today, it might not be enough to have private guards. We must also think about how to safeguard his life and wellbeing.’

He challenged the U.S. government to name the officials who made the apparent threats.

In danger: Snowden took refuge in Moscow to evade treason charges after disclosing U.S. state secrets on NSA intelligence gathering, and now fears for his life and wants to increase security

‘We think that the U.S. government must take note of such statements,’ said the lawyer. ‘The people who make extremist statements do so while wearing a mask -- they do not reveal their identities.

‘But we have specific publications that printed these interviews. We will ask for these people's masks to come off. We must know who this NSA officer is, who issues orders about ways to eliminate Edward Snowden.’

The blast came after the heads of congressional intelligence committees in Washington claimed on Sunday that Snowden could have been working in collusion with Russian secret services at the time he was gathering his treasure trove of classified data.

Putin has specifically denied his agents worked with Snowden.