'via Blog this'
QUITO, Ecuador — Ecuador accused Britain on Wednesday of threatening to storm its London embassy to arrest Julian Assange after the U.K. issued a stern warning to the South American nation ahead of its decision on an asylum bid by the WikiLeaks founder.
Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said Britain had earlier in the day issued "a written threat that it could assault our embassy" if Assange is not handed over.
Patino also said he would announce on Thursday morning whether Ecuador would grant the request of the secret-spilling former Australian hacker, who took refuge in Ecuador's embassy on June 19 to avoid extradition to Sweden. Assange faces questioning there for alleged sexual misconduct.
As news broke of the warning, police were seen reinforcing Scotland Yard's presence outside the embassy in a tony London neighborhood near the Harrods department store.
In Quito, about 30 people yelling "England, what part don't you understand, we are sovereign!" protested outside the British Embassy, and briefly trampled a British flag.
In London, a small group of Assange supporters were gathered outside the Ecuadorean embassy late Wednesday, according to live footage broadcast by a citizen journalist on the scene. The embassy was dark, although occasionally the curtains appeared to move.
British officials have vowed not grant Assange safe passage out of their country if Ecuador grants asylum. They say they will arrest him the moment he steps foot outside the embassy.
But they had not publicly suggested they might strip the embassy of its diplomatic inviolability.
LP: Britain apparently doesn't care so much for sovereignty of other nations
No word which side the British government was on during the Iranian hostage crisis
Full Story here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/15/assange-embassy-ecuador-britain_n_1786104.html
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