Report: WikiLeaks founder Assange is hiding in Britain

[News_Editor]

Report: WikiLeaks founder Assange is hiding in Britain

2010-12-02 08:30:23 GMT+7 (ICT)

LONDON (BNO NEWS) -- WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is hiding in Britain and authorities know where he is, according to a newspaper report on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Interpol issued a 'red notice' for Assange pursuant to a provisional arrest warrant in Sweden over rape and sexual molestation allegations. The notice allows the warrant to be circulated worldwide with the request that Assange is arrested and extradited.

Assange's whereabouts are currently unknown although his lawyer claims that authorities know how to get in contact with him. This is being denied by authorities.

But according to Britain's The Independent newspaper on Thursday, Scotland Yard already knows where Assange is and has known so for more than a month. The report, which only cited sources, said that British police have so far not received orders to take him into custody.

The newspaper said that Assange supplied British police with contact details when he arrived in Britain in October. "Police sources confirmed that they have a telephone number for Mr Assange and are fully aware of where he is staying," the report said.

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.

And most recently, WikiLeaks began to release some of 250,000 diplomatic cables it claims to have. The organization has said it will release all of the cables in the course of the coming weeks and months.

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