Assange will leave embassy ‘soon’

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has spent more than two years in Ecuador’s London embassy to avoid a sex crimes inquiry in Sweden, is planning to leave the building "soon", but Britain signalled it would still arrest him if he tried.

Assange, 43, made the surprise assertion during a news conference alongside Ecuador’s foreign minister Ricardo Patino. But his spokesman played down the chances of an imminent departure, saying the British government would first need to revise its position and let him leave without arrest, something it has repeatedly refused to do.

The Australian fled to the embassy in June 2012 to avoid extradition for questioning in Sweden over sex assault and rape allegations, which he denies.