I’ll leave Ecuador embassy in UK soon: Assange

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says he will “soon” leave the Ecuadorian embassy in the British capital of London, where he has sought asylum for more than two years.

“I am leaving the embassy soon – but perhaps not for the reasons the [media mogul Rupert] Murdoch press and Sky News are saying at the moment,” Assange said during a joint press conference with Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino on Monday.

This comes amid reports by British media, saying that the Australian campaigner is planning to leave the South American country’s diplomatic mission because he is suffering from potentially life-threatening diseases.

Meanwhile, the top Ecuadorian diplomat expressed Quito’s readiness to talk with the UK and Sweden to find a solution to what he describes as “a serious breach of Julian Assange’s human rights.”

Speaking after the press conference, WikiLeaks’ spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson also noted that Assange is ready to leave the embassy “as soon as the ridiculous siege outside will stop and he is offered safe passage.”

Britain’s biggest force, the Metropolitan (Met) police, have been stationed outside the embassy building in Knightsbridge, west London, over the past two years ready to arrest the campaigner if he steps out of the building. The Met police are reportedly spending nearly 9,000 pounds (15,000 dollars) a day on monitoring the mission.

Assange has been holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since June 2012 and secured political asylum from Quito after he lost a legal battle against extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over the sexual abuse allegations.

It is believed that Assange’s extradition to the North European country is a cover for sending him to the US, where he is wanted over the release of thousands of US’ classified documents about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on his whistleblower website.