WASHINGTON, June 11 (RIA Novosti) – It may have been a mere formality, but US information systems contractor Booz Allen Hamilton announced Tuesday that it had fired its employee Edward Snowden, the self-confessed source of leaked information about secret US government surveillance programs.
In a brief statement posted on its website, the firm confirmed that it had employed Snowden, a 29-year-old computer technician previously employed by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and said that his employment was terminated Monday “for violations of the firm’s code of ethics and firm policy.”
Snowden was paid an annual salary of $122,000 – far less than the “roughly $200,000” reported by the Guardian newspaper, which broke the story of sweeping electronic surveillance program under the US National Security Agency.
In an article published Tuesday, The New York Times described Booz Allen Hamilton as one of the largest and richest private companies in the United States, a success the newspaper said was based “almost exclusively” on serving a single client – the US government.
Snowden reportedly lived in a Hong Kong hotel after leaving his home base in Hawaii last month. He checked out of the hotel several days ago however, and his current whereabouts were unclear as of Tuesday, according to media reports.
