WikiLeaks urges Sweden to rule out Assange US extradition

Agence-France Presse

19 August 2012 at 5:12 am

A supporter of Julian Assange holds a sign as police remain outside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London on August 18, 2012. WikiLeaks on Sunday urged Sweden, which wants to question its website's founder Julian Assange -- who is holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London -- over alleged sexual misconduct, to guarantee it would not extradite him to the United States (AFP)

WikiLeaks on Sunday urged Sweden, which wants to question its website's founder Julian Assange over alleged sexual misconduct, to guarantee it would not extradite him to the United States. "It would be a good basis to negotiate a way to end this matter if the Swedish authorities would declare without any reservation that Julian would never be extradited from Sweden to the USA," WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson told AFP by telephone. Assange, who has been holed up in Ecuador's London embassy for two months, was set to face the world's media at 1300 GMT Sunday but risks arrest if he takes even one step out of the building. Ecuador on Thursday granted asylum to Australian national Assange, whose website enraged the United States by publishing a vast cache of confidential US government files. A supporter of Julian Assange holds a sign as police remain outside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London on August 18, 2012. WikiLeaks on Sunday urged Sweden, which wants to question its website's founder Julian Assange -- who is holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London -- over alleged sexual misconduct, to guarantee it would not extradite him to the United States.