The former CIA employee responsible for one of the highest-profile leaks in US history was believed to still be in Hong Kong on Tuesday, but his exact whereabouts are unknown.

Edward Snowden gave newspapers in Britain and the US classified information about a vast US Government data collection programme.

The Mira hotel in the prosperous Tsim Sha Tsui neighbourhood said a guest under the name of Edward Snowden checked out yesterday.

“We thought he was just an ordinary guest,” the South China Morning Post newspaper quoted the hotel’s deputy manager Kevin Ko as saying.

Edward Snowden, 29, faces calls from senior US lawmakers for him to be extradited.

“I believe he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said Congressman Peter King, the senior Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee.

“I consider him right now to be a defector,” he told CNN.

Rights experts believe that Snowden, who has said he wishes to seek asylum, is safe in Hong Kong from any immediate moves to extradite him.

The Chinese territory is currently reviewing its procedures for assessing asylum applications, and possible legal proceedings against Snowden could take a long time, said Nicholas Bequelin of Human Rights Watch.

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