Claims that Edward Snowden was to accept political asylum in Venezuela are now being rowed back on.

In a tweet, the head of the foreign affairs committee for the Russian parliament Alexei Pushkov wrote "Snowden has given his agreement to (Venezuelan President Nicolas) Maduro's offer of political asylum."

However the tweet was quickly removed from his account.

Snowden leaked details of a US intelligence programme used to monitor Internet activity and is on the run after espionage charges were filed against him.

He is believed to have been in a transit zone in Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow since June 23rd after he reportedly failed to board a flight to Cuba.

In a recently released second video from The Guardian, Snowden believes the US government will say he "aided enemies".