Ecuador, Britain pledge diplomatic route to resolve Assange's asylum issue

Ecuador’s Vice-President and Britain’s foreign minister have pledged to pursue a diplomatic solution to the standoff over the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Foreign Secretary William Hague hosted Vice-President Lenin Moreno for what were described as “amicable” talks at the Foreign Office in London ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paralympics.

The two men “confirmed the UK and Ecuador’s commitment to dialogue to find a diplomatic situation to the matter” of Assange, who has been granted political asylum by Ecuador after entering its embassy in London.

A Foreign Office spokesman declined to give further details of the talks.

Ecuador was angered by what it saw as Britain’s threat to enter the embassy and arrest Assange, who is wanted for questioning in Sweden over alleged sex crimes.

But London insisted it never threatened to enter the building and merely made the Ecuadoran government aware of the existence of a law which would allow it to do so.

Britain has said Assange will be arrested if he sets foot outside the embassy, and extradited to Sweden under the terms of a European Arrest Warrant.

Assange says he fears he will eventually be extradited to the United States.

WikiLeaks angered Washington by releasing tens of thousands of classified files about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as US diplomatic cables which gave often unflattering views of world leaders.

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