US Senators tell Obama to get tough on Snowden issue

Top US senators have asked Obama administration to get tougher on the issue of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Washington: Top US senators have reportedly asked Obama administration to get tougher on the issue of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and have suggested calling off trade ties with the countries considered aiding the US `fugitive`.

According to Fox News, Senator Schumer D-N.Y. has urged US government to call off the trade ties with Ecuador, cut off millions in foreign aid to the country and suspend favorable trade status which Ecuador has decided already. However, Schumer said that in addition to breaking the trade pacts, US could exert leverage against Ecuador by ending the 85,000 business visas between the two countries. Meanwhile, Senator John McCain, R-Ariz has suggested that US should also put pressure on Russian president Vladimir Putin and called it a `direct slap on the face of America` when Putin refused to intervene in Snowden`s case. Snowden who has been stuck up at Moscow`s Shermetyevo airport`s transit area and with his US passport revoked, he needs special travel document from Russian authorities to claim asylum in Ecuadorean Embassy. However, US President Barack Obama had earlier refused to personally get into any diplomatic `wheeling and dealing` with other countries to get a `fugitive` back to US land and had asked the countries as part of the international community to respect and follow the international law, the report added. ANI