Britain Denies Diplomatic Status For Julian Assange

The Telegraph reports:



The Foreign Office turned down a request from the Ecuadorian government to grant Julian Assange diplomatic status, amid reports the WikiLeaks founder may have received citizenship from the Andean country.

Quito said the country was seeking mediation to resolve the impasse. Following reports in Ecuadorean media that Mr Assange may have received citizenship, he posted a picture of himself on Twitter wearing an Ecuadorian football shirt on Wednesday.

An FCO spokesman said: “The Government of Ecuador recently requested diplomatic status for Mr Assange here in the UK. The UK did not grant that request, nor are we in talks with Ecuador on this matter. Ecuador knows that the way to resolve this issue is for Julian Assange to leave the embassy to face justice.