QUITO, Ecuador (AP) - Ecuador's foreign minister is alleging that Britain threatened to storm his country's London embassy to arrest WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Ricardo Patino told a news conference that Ecuador received a written threat Wednesday from Britain that "it could assault our embassy" if Assange was not handed over.
He said the threat was delivered to Ecuador's Foreign Ministry and ambassador in London.
Ecuador has said it hopes to announce a decision this week on Assange's asylum request.
The Australian has been holed up in the embassy since June 19, taking refuge to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faces questioning for alleged sexual misconduct. Assange's supports say the charges are trumped up and believe the U.S. has secretly indicted him and would extradite him from Sweden.
