Ecuador says U.K. have threatened to storm its' Embassy to get Assange

We would do well go keep our noses out of Assange's escapades to avoid extradition to the US. That is I believe what this entire farce is all about, and not the alleged rape of a woman in Sweden. Let Ecuador have him and let the US do their own dirty work to bring him to trial.

Panda wrote:

wjk wrote:I don't think he's married now, Panda?
He had a son then married the mother, I think. Then split with her.

I thought He mentioned wife and Family in his speech?......knowing me I got it wrong. Anyway, Britain has made a

right pigs' ear of this and the number of Police surrounding the area is ridiculous. Our standing around the World is at it's lowest what with the Libor scandal, now this, whose bright idea was this to corral the Embassy.?

Apologies for not getting back sooner. Heres a transcript of his speech,
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/full-transcript-of-julian-assanges-speech-outside-ecuadors-london-embassy-8061466.html
He says, his family and children. (He has a daughter too) I think by family he means his mother etc.
Agree with you about the pigs ear! Could the UK have made a worst job of it if they'd tried?!

Julian Assange can stay in embassy for 'centuries', says Ecuador


Britain should withdraw 'threat' to storm building in Knightsbridge, say Ecuadorean officials

• 
  Luke Harding
  
• guardian.co.uk, Thursday 23 August 2012 18.27 BST
  

Police officers enter the building containing the Ecuadorean embassy – where Julian Assange has been staying – on Tuesday. Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

Ecuadorean officials have said that Britain should renounce its "threat" to storm the country's London embassy, and that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange could remain inside the building for as long as he wanted – "two centuries" if necessary.

The officials said there had been no contact with the Foreign Office since last Thursday, when Ecuador's president Rafael Correa announced he was granting Assange asylum. Ecuador was keen to resume negotiations with the UK, the officials said, but added that William Hague should now take back a threat to enter the embassy as "an indication of good faith".

Ecuadorean diplomatic sources also insisted there had been no secret deal to grant Assange asylum. They said Assange simply turned up at the front door two months ago at midday and rang the bell. The Ecuadorean ambassador, Ana Alban, was forced to dash home to fetch a blow-up mattress for Assange to sleep on. Since he took up residence, the embassy had got a bigger fridge, the sources said.

The UK last week gave a written warning to Quito saying that it could invoke the Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act 1987 to arrest Assange inside the Knightsbridge embassy. This prompted a furious response from Quito. Hague later clarified that the FCO was not threatening to "storm an embassy". On Thursday, however, an Ecuadorean diplomatic source said: "The threat hasn't been withdrawn." The source suggested that the police presence around the building was excessive, with the embassy under siege at one point last week and still surrounded by dozens of policemen now. "It was amazing. There used to be four or six policemen since Mr Assange got here. Suddenly there were three trucks of police surrounding us. There were police on the interior stairs. There was even one in the window of the toilet. It was clearly a message."

Ecuadorean officials said they still believed a compromise over the Assange case was possible. They said Sweden and the UK should give political assurances that the WikiLeaks founder, who faces allegations of sexual misconduct in Sweden, would not be re-extradited from there to the US. Failing that, they said Britain should grant him safe passage so he could fly to Ecuador.

There seems little prospect that the UK will agree to this. The Foreign Office says it is legally obliged to extradite Assange to Sweden. Both sides now appear to be settling in for the long haul.

Asked how long Assange might remain at the embassy, an Ecuadorean official said: "However long it takes. Eight years. Two centuries." The official said it was ridiculous to suggest diplomats would try to smuggle him out.

On Thursday the FCO said in a statement: "We have made clear we are committed to a diplomatic solution.

"We will be sending a formal communication today to the Ecuadorean embassy. We will not go into the detail of private discussions."

On Wednesday the news agency Reuters, citing US government sources, said Washington had issued no criminal charges against Assange. His supporters claim the US is plotting to extradite and to execute him. Obama administration officials remain divided over the wisdom of prosecuting Assange, Reuters said, and the likelihood of US criminal charges against him is probably receding rather than growing.

On Friday foreign ministers from across Latin America will meet in Washington to discuss the Assange case. A draft resolution from the Organisation of American States calls on the UK to comply with the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and to respect the "inviolability" of the Ecuadorean embassy. The Foreign Office has been lobbying South American states to abstain. On Thursday, however, one Ecuadorean official predicted the FCO's efforts were doomed, adding: "Most Latin American countries are working as one [on this]."

On Sunday Assange made his first public appearance since walking into the embassy in June, addressing crowds of journalists and supporters from a first-floor balcony window, with Metropolitan police officers a few feet below him on the pavement. He called on President Obama to abandon his alleged "witch-hunt" against WikiLeaks. Assange also thanked several other Latin American countries for their support – implicitly warning Britain that any dispute with Ecuador could rapidly snowball into a conflict with the entire region. He said nothing about allegations by two Swedish women that he sexually assaulted them.

TodayOn Thursday Ecuadorean officials denied that it had been a provocative move to allow Assange to use embassy property to berate the United States. "It was the balcony or a window," one said. "He had to deliver a message. A lot of people were wanting to know what he looked like. They wanted an image. It had political value."

The officials also shrugged off criticism of Ecuador's record on press freedom, which has come under increasing scrutiny since Assange sought asylum. "Walk around the streets of Quito, hear the radio and watch TV, and see what some journalists say about the government. There is a lot of freedom," one source said.

Scotland Yard has declined to comment on the policing operation at the embassy, while the FCO has said the letter sent to Ecuadorean authorities on Wednesday of last week was not menacing and that the rights of the country's officials would continue to be respected by the government.

This is worth a look....
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/08/23/ecuadorean-tourist-board-advert-satire-funny-video_n_1821253.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

Morning malena, it was announced earlier that the U.K. Government is trying to repair diplomatic relations with Ecuador, I don't know what the Police were doing there, entering the building. DIPLOMATIC???? hardly the word to apply to the FO.!!

PS, couldn't find the link button to press , can you post it seperately? Ta

25 August 2012 Last updated at 02:54
Viewpoint: A risky Ecuador-Assange alliance By PJ Crowley Former US Assistant Secretary of State
Julian Assange cannot leave Ecuador's embassy
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Ecuador has garnered support for its right to offer asylum to Julian Assange. But the victory for both Mr Assange and his host nation could be bittersweet.

Ecuador partied at the Organisation of American States (OAS) on Friday at the expense of Britain and the United States. But after all the rhetorical confetti settles, President Rafael Correa and his new best friend, Julian Assange, face a lengthy diplomatic hangover.

London and Washington may be content to let the unlikely pair suffer in the small bed they have made or, more accurately, inflated.

At the end of the day, the OAS, the regional organisation for North, Central and South America, passed a resolution that encouraged Ecuador and the UK to come to a peaceful agreement over Julian Assange's current residency at the Ecuadorean embassy in London.

Thirty-three of the 34 member states voted to support the motion, put forth by Ecuador, expressing solidarity for Ecuador's rights and underscoring the inviolability of foreign embassies. (Canada, not the US, was the lone holdout.) The final motion was revised from the original to exclude language describing the UK's actions as a threat to Ecuadorean embassy.

Still, the emergency OAS meeting provided an irresistible opportunity for Ecuador to tweak Britain over perceived diplomatic threats that may or may not have been made and the United States over an extradition of Mr Assange that may but probably will never occur. A number of hemispheric neighbours were happy to pile on.

But this faux row involves a healthy dose of hypocrisy.
Diminished prospects
While invoking the sanctity of diplomatic protocols, less was said about the rule of law. Mr Assange sought asylum from Ecuador to avoid being extradited from the United Kingdom to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning on sexual assault allegations. He has exhausted his available legal appeals.

Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote

While trying to avoid a legal extradition he contested and lost, Julian Assange has instead imprisoned himself on an air mattress in a small room in an embassy with few creature comforts”

End Quote
In remarks last Saturday from the balcony of the Ecuadorean embassy in London, Mr Assange saluted Ecuador for "taking a courageous stand for justice" without ever mentioning justice delayed indefinitely for two women in Stockholm.

Conjuring up an image of "an oppressive world, in which journalists fall silent under the fear of prosecution," he skipped over the fact that his host has practiced just such media intimidation against some political foes since coming to office in 2007.

While it is true that the US Department of Justice continues an investigation that presumably includes Mr Assange, it likely will not indict him for the 2010 compromise of classified US documents.

It is impossible to distinguish Mr Assange's actions from those of the mainstream media, including venerable outlets like The New York Times. The Obama administration undoubtedly recognises that prospective global reputational risk which is why it has concentrated on the prosecution of the alleged sender, Private First Class Bradley Manning, rather than the receivers.

Give Mr Assange credit. He is a one hit wonder, but has milked it for all it's worth. He has achieved his 15 minutes of fame - and then some.

But now his prospects are diminishing rapidly. The very notoriety he has sought and achieved through Wikileaks now works to the disadvantage of his creation.

Mr Assange loves to blame the United States for his troubles. But Wikileaks' struggles are far more the result of internal dysfunction (and Mr Assange's behaviour) than an external conspiracy.

Information yearning to be free, not to mention informers yearning to remain anonymous, are increasingly likely to be spooked by all the attention on Mr Assange.
Messy resolution
Having been victimised by Wikileaks, there is a certain irony to President Correa's defence of the site's leader. Mr Correa evidently took offence at the "imperialist" tone of cables written about him by the former US ambassador to Quito.

His is not an embrace of Mr Assange, according to Haverford College professor Anita Isaacs, so much as an opportunity to "settle old scores with the United States".

Standing up to the United States won't hurt his reelection prospects in 2013 either.

While Mr Correa may wish to succeed Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez as the region's tormenter-in-chief of the US, the Ecuadorean economy is heavily dependent on US markets.

Inevitably, Ecuador will seek to resolve the Assange matter. He will certainly wear out his welcome in Knightsbridge. But the country's public grandstanding will make a quick resolution very difficult.

Britain has rightly worked to lower the temperature in recent days.

Ecuador President Rafael Correa (right) appealed to the OAS earlier this week
But having surrounded the Ecuadorean embassy, it is now committed to enforcing Sweden's extradition request. When Mr Assange finally leaves the embassy, he'll be heading for Stockholm, not Quito.

While trying to avoid a legal extradition he contested and lost, Julian Assange has instead imprisoned himself on an air mattress in a small room in an embassy with few creature comforts, certainly a step down from Ellington Hall where he was previously under house arrest.

War is hell, even one that exists principally in his own mind.

How long can this go on? Prior to the OAS meeting, unnamed Ecuadorean officials said as long as it takes: perhaps eight years, perhaps two centuries.

Be careful what you wish for.

PJ Crowley is a former US assistant secretary of state and now a fellow at the Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication at The George Washington University.

Britain 'will not enter Ecuador embassy to seize Assange'


Extradition stand-off eases as Ecuador's president reveals Foreign Office has retracted threat to storm embassyguardian.co.uk, Sunday 26 August 2012 01.23 BST







Ecuador's president Rafael Correa says Britain has withdrawn a threat to enter their embassy in London to arrest WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange Link to this video
Britain has withdrawn a threat to enter Ecuador's embassy in London to arrest WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange who has taken refuge there, President Rafael Correa said on Saturday, taking some of the heat out of the diplomatic standoff.

"We consider this unfortunate incident over, after a grave diplomatic error by the British in which they said they would enter our embassy," Correa said in a weekly media address.

In a statement, Ecuador's government said it had received "a communication from the British Foreign Office which said that there was no threat to enter the embassy".

Ecuador was furious after the British government warned that it might try to seize Assange, who has been holed up in the building for more than two months. The the former computer hacker is trying to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over rape and sexual assault allegations.

Ecuador, which has granted Assange asylum, demanded that Britain's threat be retracted. The latest move should improve relations between Quito and London and allow more talks on Assange's fate to take place.

For now, however, Assange remains trapped in the embassy with British police waiting outside. Britain has said it is determined to fulfil a legal obligation to send him to Sweden.

The Washington-based Organisation of American States had condemned Britain's threat, and South American foreign ministers strongly backed Correa's position that Britain's warning was unacceptable and could set a dangerous precedent.

Correa says he shares Assange's fears that if handed over to Sweden, he could then be extradited to the United States to face charges over WikiLeaks' 2010 publication of secret US cables.

US and European government sources say the United States has issued no criminal charges against Assange and has launched no attempt to extradite him.

Ecuador's government says it never intended to prevent Assange from facing justice in Sweden. It has said that if he received written guarantees from Britain and Sweden that he would not be extradited to any third country, then Assange would hand himself over to the Swedish authorities.

Assange spoke from the embassy's balcony last weekend, denouncing what he called a "witch-hunt" by the United States against him and WikiLeaks.

The Americans are furious that Ecuador is offering asylum to Assange and threaten to break off Diplomatic relations. It

would seem that trade between the 2 Countries could be affected and Ecuador is a very poor Country which relies on

exports to Foreign Countries, particularly the U.S..

Apparently Sweden has said Assange will be questioned in Sweden and tried in a Swedish court if the evidence of the 2 women is considered genuine.

Julian Assange predicts 'up to a year' of living in embassy


Julian Assange has predicted that eventually Sweden will drop its sexual assault case against him
Continue reading the main story
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Julian Assange has predicted that he will remain inside an embassy in London for "six to 12 months".

The Wikileaks founder is in Ecuador's embassy, fighting extradition to Sweden over sexual assault claims.

In a interview broadcast in Ecuador, Mr Assange said the Swedish authorities dropping the case against him is "the most likely scenario".

But Foreign Secretary William Hague has said there is "no solution in sight" to resolving Mr Assange's extradition row.

Ex-computer hacker Mr Assange's Wikileaks website has published leaked sensitive diplomatic cables involving various countries, including the US.

He has been inside the embassy since June and says he fears being passed on to authorities in the US if extradited to Sweden. Ecuador has granted asylum to Mr Assange.

The FCO says the UK has a legal obligation to extradite him to Sweden, and he will be arrested if he leaves the embassy.

Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote

Given Ecuador's position on what they call diplomatic asylum and our very clear legal position... a solution is not in sight at the moment”

End Quote William Hague Foreign Secretary
During the Telesur television interview, recorded earlier this week inside the embassy, Mr Assange said that he believes the situation "will be solved through diplomacy".

He added: "The Swedish government could drop the case. I think this is the most likely scenario. Maybe after a thorough investigation of what happened they could drop the case.

"I think this will be solved in between six and 12 months. That's what I estimate."
Sexual offences claims
The South American country says Britain threatened to storm its embassy but the UK denies making any such threat.

Ecuador claimed Britain made threats to seize Mr Assange after UK officials said a 1987 law allowed police to enter diplomatic premises.

But speaking to the BBC on Thursday, Mr Hague stressed that the UK was not threatening to storm the Ecuadorian embassy - he said he was looking for an "amicable solution".

He added: "Given Ecuador's position on what they call diplomatic asylum and our very clear legal position, such a solution is not in sight at the moment."

In 2010, two women accused Mr Assange of committing sexual offences against them while he was in Stockholm to give a lecture.

He says the sex was consensual and he regards the case as politically motivated.

In May, the UK Supreme Court dismissed Mr Assange's attempt to reopen his appeal against extradition and gave him a two-week grace period before extradition proceedings could start.

It was during that time that he entered Ecuador's embassy in London's Knightsbridge area.

The South American country announced it had granted Mr Assange asylum on 16 August, saying his human rights could be violated if he is sent to Sweden to be questioned.