Ecuador has granted citizenship to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been sheltering at its London embassy for five years to avoid arrest, Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa announced Thursday.


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Espinosa told a press conference in Quito that Assange, an Australian, became an Ecuadoran citizen on December 12.


As a result, she said Ecuador had asked London to recognize Assange as a diplomat, which would give him immunity from arrest, a request Britain has refused.