DHAKA: Fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden has described himself as a trained spy specializing in electronic surveillance, dismissing claims he was a mere low-level analyst.

In an interview with NBC, he reiterated that he had worked undercover overseas for the CIA and NSA, reports the BBC.

He said the US got better intelligence from computers than human agents.

Snowden, 30, fled the US in May 2013 and has been living under temporary asylum in Russia.

Last year, he fed a trove of secret NSA documents to news outlets including the Washington Post and the Guardian.

Among other things, the leaks detailed the NSA’s practice of harvesting data on millions of telephone calls made in the US and around the world, and revealed the agency had snooped on foreign leaders.

The revelations have sparked a debate in the US over the appropriate role of the NSA and the extent to which it should be authorized to conduct such broad surveillance.

US president Barack Obama has asked Congress to rein in the program by barring the NSA from storing phone call data on its own and to require it to seek a court order to access telecom companies’ records.

Last week, the US House passed such legislation, sending it to the US Senate.

BDST: 1150 HRS, MAY 28, 2014