Ecuador offers WikiLeaks founder Assange a home

2010-11-30 11:49:32 GMT+7 (ICT)

QUITO, ECUADOR (BNO NEWS) -- Ecuador's leftist government on Monday offered WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange a home 'with no problems and no conditions,' Deputy Foreign Minister Kintto Lucas said.

"We are going to invite him to come to Ecuador so he can freely present the information he possesses and all the documentation, not just over the Internet but in a variety of public forums," Lucas told local media.

Assange, a 39-year-old Australian, was rejected for permanent residency in Sweden in October and an international arrest warrant was issued in mid-November against him on suspicion of rape and sexual molestation.

The whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks has made headlines several times this year. On April 5, the organization released a classified video which showed a 2007 U.S. helicopter attack in Iraq which left several people killed, including two Reuters journalists.

And in July, WikiLeaks released the so-called 'Afghan War Diary', more than 92,000 documents with sensitive details about the ongoing war in Afghanistan. It was one of the largest leaks in the history of the U.S. military, but also exposed the names of Afghans who have provided information to NATO.

Then, in late October, WikiLeaks released nearly 400,000 U.S. Army field reports of the Iraq War from 2004 to 2009. It led to several revelations, including new reports of civilian deaths. It was the biggest leak in U.S. military history.

Now the U.S. has announced the launch of a criminal investigation into the release of some 250,000 diplomatic cables, obtained by WikiLeaks and made available to several news organizations.

Lucas said Ecuador was "very concerned" after knowing that U.S. diplomats were involved in spying, because it concerned several Latin American countries. He praised Assange because he is trying "to get light out of the dark corners of information, of the dark U.S. side."

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2010-11-30

10 to 1 Iran would welcome him with open arms.

New category for Mr. Assange?

Congressman wants WikiLeaks listed as terrorist group

The incoming chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee says WikiLeaks should be officially designated as a terrorist organization.

Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), the panel's presumptive next head, asked the Obama administration today to "determine whether WikiLeaks could be designated a foreign terrorist organization," putting the group in the same company as al-Qaeda and Aum Shinrikyo, the Japanese cult that released deadly sarin gas on the Tokyo subway.

Source: Cnet