By Jason Ng
KUALA LUMPUR--Ecuador will consider granting protection to former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden if he approaches one of the country's embassies, its foreign minister Ricardo Patino said Wednesday.
Mr. Snowden, currently the target of a global manhunt across three continents after he leaked details of U.S. domestic and international surveillance operations, has formally requested asylum in Ecuador.
Mr. Snowden landed in Russia on Sunday in his quest to avoid extradition to the U.S., but his current whereabouts remain unclear. It is unclear if he is heading to Ecuador.
"If he goes to an embassy, we will make a decision (on granting him protection)," Mr. Patino said at a news conference.
The move to consider Mr. Snowden's asylum request represents a political gambit by Ecuador, a country that is emerging as a refuge for high-profile whistleblowers after granting asylum in its U.K. embassy to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is wanted in Sweden to face sexual assault allegations.
"We're still studying it [Snowden's asylum request]...it took us two months to make a decision on the case of Assange, so do not expect us to make a decision sooner than that," Mr. Patino added.
Write to Jason Ng at jason.ng@dowjones.com
