US spy leaker Edward Snowden leaves Hong Kong hotel

An ex-CIA employee who leaked details of US top-secret phone and internet surveillance has disappeared from his hotel in Hong Kong.

Edward Snowden, 29, checked out from his hotel on Monday. His whereabouts are unknown, but he is believed to be still in Hong Kong.

A spokesman for the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence said the case had been referred to the Department of Justice as a criminal matter.

Beijing correspondent Damian Grammaticus says that a possible future extradition of Snowden to the US "is not a problem of China's making, and not one that China really wants to deal with."