Contracting firm Booz Allen Hamilton says it has fired Edward Snowden - the man who admitted to releasing information on the monitoring of phone and Internet data by the US government.

The company says he was sacked for violations of the firm's code of ethics and firm policy. It also adds that the 29-year-old had a salary of US$122,000 (€91,866).

Mr. Snowden worked as an infrastructure analyst there for less than 3 months. In a statement the firm say they will work closely with authorities in their investigation.

It concludes that "news reports that this individual has claimed to have leaked classified information are shocking, and if accurate, this action represents a grave violation of the code of conduct and core values of our firm".

Snowden, a former CIA technician who has contracted for the National Security Agency (NSA), admitted his role in leaks to The Guardian and The Washington Post newspapers, saying the public needs to decide whether the programmes are right or wrong.

"I'm not going to hide," Snowden told The Post. "Allowing the US government to intimidate its people with threats of retaliation for revealing wrongdoing is contrary to the public interest."

He acknowledged fears of being "rendered" - summarily detained without due process and taken into secret detention by the CIA or its partners - or taken in for questioning by Chinese authorities.

"And that is a concern I will live with for the rest of my life, however long that happens to be," he said.

The leaks have led the NSA to ask the Justice Department to conduct a criminal investigation. The Justice Department said it was in the initial stages of an investigation.

Mr. Snowden flew to Hong Kong on May 20th after copying the last set of documents he intended to disclose at the NSA's office in Hawaii. His current whereabouts are unknown.