Ecuador seeks Assange talks with UK government
The Ecuador government is to try to meet the UK's new Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond in a bid to break the deadlock over the future of Julian Assange.
Foreign minister Ricardo Patino said changes to the UK’s extradition laws created a better climate for reaching a deal.
He was speaking inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London where Mr Assange has been staying for the past two years.
The WikiLeaks founder brushed off incorrect reports that he was about to give up his fight against extradition to Sweden where he faces sex-related allegations. His supporters made it clear he will remain inside the embassy.
Asked about reports that he was planning to give up, Mr Assange said his legal advisers had told him he would be leaving the embassy soon, adding: “But perhaps not for the reasons the Murdoch press and Sky News are saying.”
The comment was taken as a joke reply to the reports of him leaving.
His advisers made it clear there was no deal in sight which would see the impasse end.
Mr Patino was visiting the embassy to mark the second anniversary of Ecuador granting political asylum to Mr Assange.
The WikiLeaks founder believes he will be extradited to the United States if he travels to Sweden.
Scores of journalists and photographers waited outside the embassy, but if they expected Mr Assange to walk out, they were disappointed.
He spent 50 minutes sitting next to Mr Patino at a news conference before returning to the room he has been working from for the past two years.
Police officers continued to wait outside the embassy, as they have done for more than two years, in a round-the-clock operation Mr Assange said had cost £7m.
Mr Patino said there had been "two lost years" for everyone involved, including the two Swedish women at the centre of the saga.
“There has not been justice for anyone. The situation must come to an end,” he said.
Mr Patino referred to recent changes to the extradition laws in the UK which he believed would mean Mr Assange would not be facing extradition if the case started today.
“Over the coming weeks I will be trying out set up a meeting with the UK foreign secretary. We believe that the recent reforms create a better climate for us to try to reach an agreement.”
