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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange fears assassination attempt

This month, Swedish prosecutors dropped their investigation into two allegations against Assange – one of sexual molestation and one of unlawful coercion – having run out of time to question him.

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Mr Assange claimed asylum from Ecuador in June 2012 to avoid being extradited to Sweden where he faced questioning over rape and sexual assault allegations.

He said: “There are security issues with being on the balcony”.

Codenamed Operation Hotel, the report lays out how Ecuador considered ways of getting “Mr Guest”, as Assange was referred to, out of their embassy. “There have been bomb threats and assassination threats from various people”, he told the magazine.

He added, “Unless I convert to Islam it’s not that likely that I’ll be droned, but we have seen things creeping towards that”.

The 44-year-old, who also fears he is being bugged, has lived at the embassy in London’s Knightsbridge since Ecuador gave him asylum in 2012. He has so far evaded an extradition order in relation to alleged sex offences made against him in Sweden.

But they still want to question him about a rape allegation which carries a 10-year statute of limitations that only expires in 2020.

Meanwhile, Wikileaks asserted on Monday that it was not involved in the planning of a secret trip that former US National Security contractor Edward Snowden allegedly wanted to make from Russian Federation to Bolivia aboard a Bolivian presidential aircraft in 2013.

“I am a journalist who has been pursued and threatened with death by the USA authorities because of my professional activities”.

Over a period of almost five years, he has been detained without charge in prison, under house arrest and in the embassy, with round-the-clock police guard thought to cost more than £11 million.

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Justice Ministry spokeswoman Cecilia Riddselius said Tuesday talks between Swedish and Ecuadorean officials had been “very good, very constructive” and could lead to a general agreement on legal cooperation “in time for Christmas”.

Sweden hope to reach a deal with Ecuador to interview Julian Assange over a rape allegation