Quito (Ecuador): Ecuador’s envoy to the United States has said that granting political asylum to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange could be used to discredit Quito in Washington.
“Giving asylum to Assange would be used as ammunition to attack the country,” Nathalie Cely said in an interview with Radio Majestad.
Assange is currently holed up in Ecuador embassy in London, seeking political asylum to avoid being extradited to Sweden, where is wanted for questioning over rape charges.
According to The Telegraph, Cely said salvos already have been launched by pressure groups seeking to ‘disparage her country in the eyes of US business leaders and policymakers.’
She stressed that, recriminations against Quito for sheltering Assange ‘already have begun.’
Cely said her government remained "ready as ever to defend our position and our decisions," without providing any clues as to when Ecuador might make its decision on Assange’s fate.
ANI
First Published: Tuesday, July 10, 2012, 12:00