Fugitive Snowden's options narrow as asylum requests spurned

An employee distributes newspapers, with a photograph (R) of former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden seen on a page, at an underground walkway in central Moscow July 2, 2013. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Countries in Latin America, Asia and Europe spurned asylum requests by Edward Snowden on Tuesday, despite a call by Venezuela for the world to protect the former U.S. spy agency contractor wanted by Washington for espionage.

Snowden, who revealed the secret U.S. electronic surveillance programme Prism, has applied for political asylum in more than a dozen countries in his search for safety from prosecution in the United States.