Ecuador invites UK to Assange talks

Ecuadors president has invited the UK to talks over the fate of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on the condition that Britain guarantee it will not enter the diplomatic mission in London where Assange has sought shelter.Computer hacker Assange, who is wanted by Sweden for questioning on sexual assault charges, jumped bail and fled to the Ecuadorian embassy nine weeks ago.Despite that rude, impertinent and unacceptable remark, were still open to dialogue, President Rafael Correa said on Tuesday, referring to a statement issued by William Hague, UK foreign secretary, last week.We dont expect an apology, but of course we expect Britain to retract the extremely serious mistake they made when they issued the threat that they could violate our diplomatic mission to arrest Mr Julian Assange.Assange made an appearance on a balcony of the embassy, in Londons Knightsbridge district, on Tuesday before an audience of activists and a heavy police presence lining the streets.He called on the US to end what he called its witch-hunt against him.Rallying supportCorrea has rallied support for his decision among fellow left-leaning Latin American nations and has characterised the diplomatic row with the UK as a confrontation with an imperialist and colonial power.Though Correa has fought with privately owned media outlets in his own country, hundreds of people rallied in the Ecuadorian capital, Quito, earlier this week to support Assanges asylum bid, saying it was crucial to protect free speech.Correa granted Assange political asylum earlier this month and has said Assange is welcome to stay in the London embassy indefinitely, but the UK has pledged not to allow Assange to leave the country.The British government has also said it will not raid Ecuadors embassy, though police are stationed both outside and inside the building that houses the embassy offices.“We will not allow Mr Assange safe passage out of the UK, nor is there any legal basis for us to do so. The UK does not accept the principle of diplomatic asylum, Hague said in a statement on Thursday.It is far from a universally accepted concept: the United Kingdom is not a party to any legal instruments which require us to recognise the grant of diplomatic asylum by a foreign embassy in this country.”International lawRicardo Patino, Ecuadorian foreign minister, responded to Hagues statement by saying such a move would be a “flagrant violation” of international law.It is not possible for British authorities to enter the Ecuadorian embassy under the terms of international law.Article 22 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations states that the premises of a diplomatic mission are inviolable and agents of a state may not enter them to perform law enforcement [or other] functions without the consent of the head of the diplomatic mission.The 41-year-old Australian national has said he believes he will eventually be sent to the US to face an unfair espionage prosecution arising from WikiLeakss release of hundreds of thousands of secret US government documents.However, Bob Carr, Australias foreign minister, said on Wednesday that Assange was unlikely to be extradited from Sweden to the US if there was a risk of the death penalty or a military court.