Britain and Ecuador should resume talks over the fate of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, holed up in the Ecuadorean embassy in London, as early as possible, Reuters cited British Foreign Secretary William Hague as saying on Monday. Assange has been living in the embassy's cramped quarters since fleeing there in June to avoid extradition to Sweden where he is wanted for questioning over rape and sexual assault allegations. Ecuador has granted asylum to Assange, but the former computer hacker faces arrest if he leaves the embassy in central London. The case has triggered a diplomatic spat between the two nations, but tensions have since eased. "We believe that our two countries should be able to find a diplomatic solution," Hague said in a statement. "We have invited the government of Ecuador to resume, as early as possible, the discussions we have held on this matter to date." In granting Assange asylum in August, Ecuador said it shared his fears that he could face charges in the United States over the publication in 2010 by WikiLeaks of thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic cables. But Hague said any suggestion that Assange's human rights could be put at risk by his extradition to Sweden was "completely unfounded". He also sought to assure Ecuador that the 41-year-old Australian could not face extradition from Sweden to the United States if he faced the prospect of the death penalty or human rights violations. Sweden would be obliged to seek Britain's consent before granting any extradition to a non-EU member, he said. -- SPA
