It looks like Julian Assange will have to get used to the Ecuadorean Embassy:
The UK has insisted it will not grant Julian Assange “safe passage” to Ecuador as it seeks a diplomatic solution to him being given asylum.
Downing Street said the government was obliged to extradite Mr Assange to Sweden where he faces questioning over sex assault claims, which he denies.
The Wikileaks founder has been staying at Ecuador’s London Embassy since June.
South American nations have pledged support for Ecuador after the UK said it could legally enter the building.
The Supreme Court in May dismissed Mr Assange’s bid to reopen his appeal against extradition and gave him a two-week grace period before extradition proceedings could start.
“We hope that we can reach a diplomatic solution and we are doing what we can to achieve that,” Prime Minister David Cameron’s official spokesman said.
“Under our law, having exhausted all the options of appeal, we are obliged to extradite him to Sweden. It is our intention to carry out that obligation.
“We will continue talking to the Ecuadorean government and others to try to find a diplomatic solution.”
I continue to doubt that the Brits would actually breach the sanctity of the embassy, but they may well attempt to engage in a psychological campaign to drive Assange out akin to what the United States military did when Manuel Noriega took refuge in the Vatican Embassy after the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989.
