WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Sunday thanked his supporters from a balcony at the Ecuadorian embassy in London and called on the United States to stop "witchhunt" against the organization and other whistleblowers

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Sunday thanked his supporters from a balcony at the Ecuadorian embassy in London and called on the United States to stop "witchhunt" against the organization and other whistleblowers.

The 41-year-old Australian received political asylum from Ecuador on Thursday, but was denied safe passage out of Britain. The British police have been stationed outside the Ecuadorian embassy in central London since Assange took refuge two months ago, in a bid to arrest him if he walked out of the embassy.

In his first public appearance since he was granted asylum by Ecuador, Assange thanked his supporters outside the embassy and around the world, and expressed gratitude to Ecuador and other South American countries, as well as to his staff in WikiLeaks and his family.

Assange asked President Barack Obama to "do the right thing."

"The United States must renounce its witchhunt against WikiLeaks," he said.

The WikiLeaks founder and former hacker has embarrassed several governments, including the United States authorities, by publishing millions of secret diplomatic cables on the Internet.

He was charged with rape and sexual assault by Sweden in 2010, which he denied, and was arrested in Britain later that year.