British gov't thwarts bid to end WikiLeaks founder stay in Ecuador's London embassy

LONDON, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- A bid by the Ecuador government to resolve the deadlock over WikiLeaks founder who holed up in their London embassy, suffered a setback Thursday.

The British Foreign Office turned down a request to grant diplomatic status to Julian Assange, who has lived at the embassy since 2012. It would have enabled him to walk out of the embassy without fear of arrest.

The Australian computer programmer and the founder of WikiLeaks is unable to leave the building as he would face immediate arrest by police.

Assange had been wanted on assault claims in Sweden, but that case against him has been dropped. He originally sought sanctuary in the embassy, fearing that if he was sent to Sweden he would be extradited to the United States over the Wikileaks case.

Police say he will be arrested if he leaves the embassy in Knightsbridge for failing to surrender to the British court in 2012. Assange has been holed up in the embassy since then, unable to leave the building in six years.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "Ecuador knows that the way to resolve this issue is for Assange to leave the embassy to face justice."

Media reports in Britain quoted Ecuador's Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa responding to the decision, as saying: "No solution will be achieved without international cooperation and the co-operation of the United Kingdom, which has also shown interest in seeking a way out."

In London, media reports said the British government has also refused to guarantee that Assange will not be extradited to the United States where he could face charges for his role in releasing classified documents.

He came to international attention in 2010 when WikiLeaks published a series of leaked sensitive documents. It prompted the U.S. government to launch a criminal investigation into WikiLeaks, at the same time asking and allied nations for assistance.

His stay in the Ecuador embassy has been reported to have cost the Metropolitan Police in London several million U.S. dollars in police presence outside the embassy. Enditem