Wikileaks: Assange decision in 'hours or days'

LONDON (AP) ? Julian Assange spent a third day inside Ecuador's London embassy Thursday, as hopes appeared to recede of an imminent end to a bizarre legal and diplomatic standoff sparked by the WikiLeaks founder's request for political asylum.

Ecuador's deputy foreign minister, Marco Albuja, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation late Wednesday that President Rafael Correa would make a decision within the day.

But WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson said "it could take hours, it could take days" before a decision was made.

Speaking after visiting Assange Thursday, he said Ecuador had asked for information from Britain, Sweden and the United States and would study it before making a decision.

Ecuador's London embassy confirmed a decision was expected from Ecuador's capital, Quito, but spokeswoman Priscilla Kohn said it was unclear whether it would come Thursday.

Journalists and a handful of WikiLeaks supporters had gathered outside the Edwardian building that houses the embassy in London's Knightsbridge district in anticipation of a resolution to the saga.

A divisive figure with a knack for garnering attention, Assange has been fighting since 2010 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over alleged sexual assaults on two women. He denies the claims, and says the case against him is politically motivated.

His supporters say he fears charges in the United States for leaking hundreds of thousands of secret U.S. documents via the secret-spilling WikiLeaks website.

A U.S. soldier, Pfc. Bradley Manning, a 24-year-old Crescent, Oklahoma, native, has been charged with aiding the enemy by passing the secret files to WikiLeaks and is awaiting trial.

Per Samuelson, one of the WikiLeaks founder's two Swedish lawyers, said Assange "feels that he's persecuted politically by the U.S." for revealing American war crimes.

"He is convinced that the U.S. is preparing charges," he said. "He feels that his asylum application is not about the crime accusations he faces in Sweden, but is about getting protected from the U.S."

Supporters say the WikiLeaks chief believes that if he was extradited to Sweden he would then likely become the target of a U.S. request to extradite him there on allegations linked to his secret spilling. Many legal experts dismiss the idea as paranoid and fanciful.

Assange's dramatic asylum bid took many of his supporters ? and even his lawyers ? by surprise. Samuelson said he had not been informed about Assange's plans until the 40-year-old Australian had already entered the embassy.

The lawyer said Assange was camping out "in an office that has been prepared with overnight sleeping facilities."

"I don't get the feeling that they (embassy staff) are in a hurry to get rid of him. He's welcome there," said Samuelson, who met with Assange Wednesday.

British officials say Assange is beyond their reach in the embassy, but that he will be arrested if he leaves for breaching his bail conditions, which include an overnight curfew at a registered address.

Hrafnsson said Assange was "in good spirits" and prepared to wait things out in the embassy.

"He will stay until this matter is settled," Hrafnsson said. "I assume that if asylum is not granted, he will leave."

Even if Assange is granted asylum, it is unclear how he could leave the embassy without being arrested by British police. Legal experts say he would forfeit the embassy's protection the moment he steps out of the door.

Assange has exhausted legal appeals against extradition in Britain, but has until June 28 to apply to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.

The left-leaning Correa, who has sought to reduce U.S. influence in Latin America, has praised WikiLeaks for exposing U.S. secrets and offered Assange words of support.

Correa said Wednesday that Assange had made it clear in his letter requesting asylum that "he wants to continue his mission of free expression without limits, to reveal the truth, in a place of peace dedicated to truth and justice."

Some have questioned Ecuador's commitment to freedom of speech. Correa's government has been assailed by human rights and press freedom activists for using Ecuador's criminal libel law in sympathetic courts against journalists, including some from the country's biggest newspaper, El Universo.

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Associated Press Writer Louise Nordstrom in Stockholm contributed to this report.

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