London: British Foreign Secretary William Hague has reportedly met with Ecuador’s Vice President Lenin Moreno, a move suggesting the two nations are looking at resolving the diplomatic row over WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
A spokesman for the Foreign Office confirmed the men specifically talked about a “diplomatic solution”, and Assange’s fate was on the discussion agenda.
“They discussed the situation regarding Assange’s presence in the embassy of Ecuador in London,” the Telegraph quoted the spokesman, as saying.
“They confirmed the UK and Ecuador’s commitment to dialogue to find a diplomatic solution to the matter,” he added.
According to the paper, it is understood Ecuador spoke about why it had granted political asylum and the assurances they needed from both Britain and Sweden that Assange would not be extradited to the US where he faces likely prosecution over the WikiLeaks revelations.
Assange has been holed up in the embassy since June 19 to seek political asylum in a bid to avoid extradition to Sweden.
According to the paper, Hague reaffirmed British authorities had no intention to ‘storm’ the building to retrieve the Australian activist.
ANI
First Published: Thursday, August 30, 2012, 10:43