Ecuador said on Monday it will continue to give WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange asylum at its London embassy, after talks with Britain failed to break the deadlock on the case.
Ecuador said on Monday it will continue to give WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange asylum at its London embassy, after talks with Britain failed to break the deadlock on the case.
Ecuador Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said the Australian was prepared to stay at the em
bassy for another five years if necessary until a diplomatic solution was found, insisting there were no plans to smuggle him out "in the boot of a car".
Patino was speaking after talks with British Foreign Secretary William Hague in London ahead of the anniversary on Wednesday of Assange's flight to the embassy.
The 41-year-old former computer hacker sought refuge on June 19 last year after a British court ordered his extradition to Sweden, where he is accused of sex crimes.
Hague and Patino "agreed to keep channels of communication open, but made no breakthrough" during the 45-minute meeting, said a statement from the British Foreign Office.
"Ministers agreed that officials should establish a working group to find a diplomatic solution to the issue of Julian Assange, but no substantive progress was made," it said.
"The foreign secretary (Hague) was clear once again that any resolution would need to be within the laws of the United Kingdom."
Britain has refused to grant Assange safe passage out of the embassy, and so he remains stuck in the modest apartment indefinitely.
Patino said Assange was "in good spirits and is ready to spend at least another five years in our embassy", insisting there were no plans to smuggle him out of the building.
"The government of Ecuador believes the reasons for granting him asylum have not changed," he said.
"Mr Assange is not going to escape from our embassy," Patino said. "He is not going to get out through a tunnel or in the boot of a car.
"Ecuador will not act irregularly. He will leave through the main door -- he will go out the front, and to freedom."
Assange denies the allegations of sexual assault made against him, saying they are politically motivated and linked to the release by WikiLeaks of thousands of classified US documents.
He said he fears his extradition to Sweden would pave the way for his transfer to the United States, where he could be prosecuted for the whistle-blowing website's actions.
