WASHINGTON — United States sanctions against any country offering asylum to Edward Snowden advanced in Congress yesterday as the 30-year-old National Security Agency (NSA) leaker remained in a Moscow airport while Russia weighed a request for him to stay permanently.

The measure introduced yesterday by Senator Lindsey Graham demands that the State Department coordinate with lawmakers on setting penalties against nations that seek to help Snowden avoid extradition to the US, where the authorities want him prosecuted for revealing details of the government’s massive surveillance system.

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved the proposal unanimously by voice vote as an amendment to next year’s US$50.6 billion (S$64 billion) diplomacy and international aid Bill.

“I don’t know if he’s getting a change of clothes. I don’t know if he’s going to stay in Russia forever. I don’t know where he’s going to go,” Sen Graham said. “But I know this: That the right thing to do is to send him back home so he can face charges for the crimes he’s allegedly committed.”

Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua have offered Snowden asylum since his arrival at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport a month ago, shortly after identifying himself as the source of a series of news reports outlining the NSA’s programme to monitor Internet and telephone communications.

It was believed he would then fly to Cuba but the US cancelled his passport, stranding him, with Russia yet to authorise his request for temporary asylum or allow him to fly on to another destination.

Snowden wants permission to stay in Russia, his lawyer said on Wednesday after delivering fresh clothes to his client. It was unclear how long the Kremlin would take to decide on the asylum request.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said on Wednesday that the US was “seeking clarity” about Snowden’s status.

Sen Graham said Snowden’s revelations have had “incredibly disturbing” implications for national security.

The head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen Robert Menendez, warned that “providing any refuge to Edward Snowden will be harmful to US-Russia relations”.

It was not immediately clear how any sanctions programme would work even though the spending Bill is several steps from becoming law. But the US has a number of programmes that provide international trade benefits to developing countries, including Bolivia and Venezuela, which could be affected.

The country also has a free trade agreement with Nicaragua that could come under scrutiny.

The Obama administration says the surveillance has foiled a number of terrorist plots against the US and that the public outing of its programmes is helping terrorist groups change their tactics. AGENCIES