Snowden sought Booz Allen role for NSA access: report

Edward Snowden said he accepted a job at contractor Booz Allen Hamilton to gain access to details of the US National Security Agency's surveillance programs, according to the South China Morning Post.

Snowden, who worked for Booz Allen Hamilton for roughly three months at an NSA facility in Hawaii, is now the subject of an international manhunt after leaking highly classified documents to the Washington Post and Britain's Guardian newspaper.

He told the South China Morning Post on June 12 that he gained the job as a systems administrator because of the access it afforded him. The Post's article was published on Monday.

"My position with Booz Allen Hamilton granted me access to lists of machines all over the world the NSA hacked," Snowden said, according to the article. "That is why I accepted that position about three months ago."

Booz Allen Hamilton fired Snowden on June 10, one day after Snowden went public about his role in revealing details of the NSA programs in a video posted by the Guardian.

James Fisher, a spokesman for Booz Allen Hamilton, said the company had no comment beyond its statement on June 11. 

En route to Ecuador

Julian Assange, the founder of anti-secrecy organisation WikiLeaks, said on Monday that Snowden was safe and healthy after fleeing to Moscow on his globe-crossing escape from US prosecution.

"The current status of Mr Snowden and Harrison is that both are healthy and safe and they are in contact with their legal teams," Assange said, referring to Sarah Harrison, a WikiLeaks representative accompanying Snowden.

"Edward Snowden left Hong Kong on June 23 bound for Ecuador via a safe pass through Russia and other states," Assange told reporters on a conference call from inside Ecuador's embassy in London, where he has been himself hiding from arrest and extradition.