MANAGUA (AFP) - Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said on Friday his government was willing to give political asylum to US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden "if circumstances permit" it.

"We are open, respectful of the right to asylum, and it is clear that if circumstances permit it, we would receive Snowden with pleasure and give him asylum here in Nicaragua," Mr Ortega said at a public event.

Mr Ortega said his government received an asylum application at its embassy in Moscow.

The US fugitive, whose passport has been revoked by the United States, has been holed up in the Russian capital's international airport, awaiting for a country to give him sanctuary.