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Wednesday, December 1, 2010

WIKILEAKS: Mystery over why WikiLeaks boss Julian Assange has not been arrested in London

Questions are being raised over why WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange isn’t under arrest tonight after police in London revealed they have known his whereabouts for more than a month.
Australian-born Assange, 39,  has been hiding in plain sight in Britain despite being on Interpol’s wanted list.
The world’s biggest international police organisation took out a formal arrest warrant against the WikiLeaks boss following a request from Sweden, where he is sought on charges of rape and sexual molestation.
But Scotland Yard officers are yet to receive any official instructions to arrest him, according to reports in the UK, where Assange has been staying since the end of October.

U.S. government officials, furious over the raft of secret diplomatic cables released this week by the whistleblower website, were left wondering why Assange had not been picked up.
‘If there is an Interpol arrest warrant authorising the British police to arrest him, it is hard to see what they are waiting for,’ said one aide.
‘The inquiry into the criminal nature of the leaks is still at a preliminary stage in Washington, but Sweden clearly thinks the charges against him are serious enough for him to be extradited back there.’
The escalating row over the arrest delay came as Amazon.com kicked WikiLeaks from its servers, forcing the controversial website to move back to a Swedish provider.
Senator Joe Leiberman said Amazon acted after congressional staffers called the company yesterday to inquire about its relationship with WikiLeaks.
  Suspect: Julian Assange wanted by Interpol
Suspect: Julian Assange wanted by Interpol

The site took up residence on Amazon's self-service Web servers after a rash of Internet-based attacks started Sunday against its Swedish host, Bahnhof.
But Wikileaks was again unavailable for hours today in the US, as Amazon's servers stopped responding to requests.
Despite the setback – and Assange’s personal travails -  WikiLeaks continues to release diplomatic cables, including some secret correspondence, on its website.
Clinton: 'Leaks are an attack on the international community'
Clinton: 'Leaks are an attack on the international community'
The planned release of 251,287 documents, of which 291 are currently available, has been condemned by several world leaders, with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calling it 'an attack on the international community'.
Assange is accused of rape and sexual molestation after two women complained in August when he was in Sweden giving lectures on WikiLeaks’ publishing of classified U.S. military documents related to the war in Afghanistan.
He has strenuously denied the charges and has on several occasions terminated interviews when the subject is raised.
His lawyer in the UK, Mark Stephens, has said that Assange had consensual sex with the women.
Interpol officials also didn’t immediately comment - but a Red Notice for Assange is on their website. It means local police can arrest Assange anywhere and hold him for extradition.
Assange has appealed the November 24 decision of a Swedish court that upheld an arrest warrant on rape charges, Expressen newspaper reported yesterday, citing court officials.

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