Saturday, May 25th 06:02 AM IST
Ecuador IMAGE.
strongLondon:/strong Britain is seeking an amicable solution with Ecuador to their diplomatic standoff over WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, a UK official insisted Saturday, as the secret-spiller prepared to make his first public statement since the Latin American nation confirmed it would offer him asylum.

Assange, who took shelter in the Ecuadorian Embassy on June 19 after he exhausted all routes of appeal in the UK to avoid extradition to Sweden for questioning over sexual misconduct allegations, is scheduled to make a public statement Sunday.

London diplomats have spoken with Ecuadorian Ambassador Ana Alban since the South American country granted Assange asylum on Thursday, a move which threatens to further complicate Sweden's two-year long attempt to have the activist extradited from Britain.

British officials in Ecuador's capital, Quito, have also contacted the country's foreign ministry to discuss a resumption of talks over the case, and to quell anger prompted when Britain appeared to suggest it could invoke a little-known law to strip Ecuador's embassy of diplomatic privileges - meaning police would be free to move in and detain Assange.

But there was little sign of a friendlier atmosphere Saturday from Quito, however, where Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said on his weekly broadcast that Britain's direct threat about possibly entering the embassy had come in a totally offensive, inconsiderate, intolerable manner.

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strongLondon:/strong Britain is seeking an amicable solution with Ecuador to their diplomatic standoff over WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, a UK official insisted Saturday, as the secret-spiller prepared to make his first public statement since the Latin American nation confirmed it would offer him asylum. Assange, who took shelter in the Ecuadorian Embassy on June 19 after he exhausted all routes of appeal in the UK to avoid extradition to Sweden for questioning over sexual misconduct allegations, is scheduled to make a public statement Sunday. London diplomats have spoken with Ecuadorian Ambassador Ana Alban since the South American country granted Assange asylum on Thursday, a move which threatens to further complicate Sweden's two-year long attempt to have the activist extradited from Britain. British officials in Ecuador's capital, Quito, have also contacted the country's foreign ministry to discuss a resumption of talks over the case, and to quell anger prompted when Britain appeared to suggest it could invoke a little-known law to strip Ecuador's embassy of diplomatic privileges - meaning police would be free to move in and detain Assange. But there was little sign of a friendlier atmosphere Saturday from Quito, however, where Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said on his weekly broadcast that Britain's direct threat about possibly entering the embassy had come in a totally offensive, inconsiderate, intolerable manner. [caption id=attachment_422696 align=alignleft width=380