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President Barack Obama has ruled out diplomatic "wheeling and dealing" in attempts to extradite US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, BBC reported.

Speaking on a visit to the West African nation of Senegal, Mr Obama said the case would be handled through routine legal channels.

"I am not going to be scrambling jets to get a 29-year-old hacker," he added.

Meanwhile, Ecuador's President Rafael Correa said the country had yet to decide whether to admit Mr Snowden.

The former National Security Agency contractor faces espionage charges in the US. He flew to Moscow last weekend and has requested asylum in Ecuador.

"Would he be allowed to arrive on Ecuadoran territory?" Mr Correa said on Thursday. "This is something that, in principle, we haven't considered. We would probably examine it, but for now he is in Russia."

Mr Obama also said on Thursday that he had not called China's and Russia's presidents about the case, adding: "I shouldn't have to."

He told a news conference in the Senegalese capital Dakar: "I'm not going to have one case of a suspect who we're trying to extradite suddenly being elevated to the point where I've got to start doing wheeling and dealing and trading on a whole host of other issues."

He added: "My continued expectation is that Russia or other countries that have talked about potentially providing Mr Snowden asylum recognise that they are a part of an international community and they should be abiding by international law."

The US has accused Russia and China of helping Mr Snowden, which both deny.