http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/interpol-issues-arrest-warrant-for-julian-assange-20101201-18fw7.htmlInterpol, the international police organisation, has issued an arrest warrant for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, as his activist website continued to leak US diplomatic cables today.
The Australian was added to the organisation's "wanted" list for alleged sex crimes committed in Sweden 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.
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Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks.
Wanted ... Julian Assange. Photo: Reuters
The arrest warrant, called a "Red Notice", is "not an international arrest warrant" but means Mr Assange could be arrested and extradited to Sweden from any country if local authorities act on it.
"Many of Interpol's member countries consider a Red Notice to be a valid request for provisional arrest," Interpol said on its website.
Mr Assange, 39, is contesting the warrant in a Swedish appeals court.
He has denied the accusations, with his British lawyer Mark Stephens saying last month that they were "false and without basis".
Ecuador withdraws invitation to Assange
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".
But today, the country's President Rafael Correa backtracked on the offer, saying "there has been no formal offer to the director of WikiLeaks".
"That was a personal remark by the Deputy Foreign Minister; he did not have my authorisation," the President said.
Cable leaks embarrassing the US and its allies
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 the 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.
French daily Le Monde, reporting on a separate group of US cables, revealed that US diplomats called French President Nicolas Sarkozy "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.
Mr Sarkozy made no secret of his admiration for Washington as he began his presidency, but some of the French voters who elected him might have been surprised by just how closely he supported then US president George W. Bush.
In the most startling extract from the cables, which have yet to appear on the WikiLeaks website and appear in Le Monde in French translation, the US ambassador writes in 2006 that Mr Sarkozy might send French troops to Iraq.
"Sarkozy declared that France and the international community would have to help the United States resolve the situation in Iraq. Perhaps by replacing the American army with an international force," he wrote.
But the US war in Iraq remained extremely unpopular in France, and nothing came of this idea once Mr Sarkozy was elected, although he did send more French troops to Afghanistan and brought France back into full NATO membership.
Another leaked cable, reported by The Guardian, said Mr Sarkozy chased a dog and a pet rabbit around his office when he was interior minister in 2006.
The cable said US ambassador Craig Stapleton was visiting Mr Sarkozy when he "went to the line of floor-to-ceiling windows that open from the interior minister's office to the gardens of the interior ministry, and called over his nine-year old son, Louis, who was playing on the lawn".
"Louis appeared at the threshold with a small dog at his feet and a large rabbit in his arms. To shake hands with the ambassador, Louis put down the rabbit - and the dog started chasing the rabbit through Sarkozy's office, which led to the unforgettable sight of Sarkozy, bent over, chasing the dog through the ante-room to his office as the dog chased the rabbit, and Louis filled the room with gleeful laughter."
Meanwhile, Shares in Bank of America, the largest US bank, tumbled more than 3 per cent on Tuesday amid speculation it would be the next target of leaked documents from WikiLeaks.
In an interview published on Monday by Forbes magazine, Mr Assange claimed a fresh "megaleak" would target a major US bank "early next year".
One of the leaks said China was "ready to abandon North Korea" and would accept unification of the peninsula.
- with AFP
