Ecuador Expects UK to Retract to Negotiate

Ecuador hopes the UK to retract from what Ecuador considered a threat to arrest WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has taken refuge inside its embassy in London, after the South American country granted him asylum.

“We would not even expect them to apologize, we are not asking that, but we even expect Britain to retract from that grave error committed by threatening to Ecuador to violate its embassy to arrest Mr. Julian Assange,” said President Rafael Correa in a press conference in Guayaquil.

He added that “despite this impertinence, to that rude and unacceptable threat, we remain open to dialogue” in order to try to overcome the crisis in the wake of diplomatic asylum granted on 16 August by Quito to Assange, an Australian, who has taken refuge in Ecuador’s embassy in London from June 19.

“The doors are wide open for dialogue since the beginning they were opened, and not only that, they were used, there was an open dialogue, and still ongoing,” said Correa. The president remarked that Assange “may remain indefinitely in our embassy.” (FL)