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The United States is braced for a drawn-out effort to capture the rogue spy who dramatically exposed its domestic surveillance apparatus, as President Barack Obama was urged to prosecute him for treason.

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Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old intelligence contractor, was seeking asylum after apparently leaving a hotel in Hong Kong, where he leaked top secret documents on the National Security Agency (NSA) to the media.

“The only thing I can do is sit here and hope the Hong Kong government does not deport me,” Mr. Snowden told The Guardian, while suggesting that he could alternatively seek protection in Iceland.

Senior congressmen accused Mr. Snowden of inflicting a historic blow to U.S. intelligence and providing assistance to al-Qaeda, by disclosing the government’s telephone and online spying methods. Some former intelligence officials even accused him of being a Chinese agent.

“The United States government must prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law and begin extradition proceedings at the earliest date,” said Peter King, a Republican congressman for New York and chairman of the House homeland security committee.