Paris: Former US National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, who leaked classified documents detailing government surveillance programs, is calling on French President Emmanuel Macron to grant him asylum.Snowden, now living in Russia to avoid prosecution in the United States, stressed in an interview broadcast Monday on France's Inter radio that "protecting whistleblowers is not a hostile act" and that he feels entitled to get protected status in France.

Snowden unsuccessfully applied for asylum in France in 2013 under Francois Hollande. He has also sought asylum in several other countries. Snowden's memoir 'Permanent Record', telling his life story in detail for the first time and explaining why he chose to risk his freedom to become perhaps the most famous whistleblower of all time, will be released on Tuesday in about 20 countries, including France.