Glenda Kwek
December 1, 2010 - 11:05AM
Interpol, the international police organisation, have issued a global arrest warrant for WikiLeaks' Julian Assange, as the activist website continued its US diplomatic cables leaks today.
The 39-year-old Australian was added to the organisation's "wanted" list for alleged sex crimes committed in Sweden earlier this year.
He is suspected of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion, after an investigation by Swedish prosecutors into his encounters with two women in Sweden in August.
Mr Assange has denied the accusations, with his British lawyer Mark Stephens saying earlier this month that they were "false and without basis".
Ecuador's Deputy Foreign Minister, Kintto Lucas, yesterday offered Mr Assange asylum in his country saying that "we are ready to give him [Mr Assange] residence in Ecuador, with no problems and no conditions".
"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."
Cable leaks embarrassing the US
The United States has condemned the leaks as a criminal act but has not disputed the authenticity of the published transcripts, which have been chosen for publication by reporters from major world dailies.
The leaks began on Sunday and have already covered several major diplomatic crises, in particular the nuclear stand-off with Iran and allegations of US spying on the UN.
The latest leaks, reported by The New York Times and The Guardian newspapers, focus on Pakistan and reveal US fears about the South Asian country's nuclear arsenal.
They also reveal that Pakistan's army chief General Ashfaq Kayani mused about forcing out civilian President Asif Ali Zardari.
General Kayani told the US ambassador during a March 2009 meeting that he "might, however reluctantly", pressure Zardari to resign, according to a cable cited by the Times.
French daily Le Monde also reported on a separate group of US cables, in which French President Nicolas Sarkozy was described as "Sarkozy the American".
"Sarkozy is the French politician who most supports the role of the United States in the world," the US embassy in Paris wrote in a 2006 portrait of the right-wing minister shortly before he announced his presidential run.
"His nickname is 'Sarkozy the American' and his affinity for America is authentic and comes from the bottom of his heart," the memo said, predicting an end to the tense relations under the outgoing president, Jacques Chirac.
- with AFP
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