LONDON (AFP) - Fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden on Thursday thanked Russia for granting him a year's asylum in a statement issued via the WikiLeaks website, and accused the US government of showing "no respect" for international law.

"Over the past eight weeks we have seen the Obama administration show no respect for international or domestic law, but in the end the law is winning," Snowden said in his first public remarks since leaving Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport.