Assange to Obama: stop WikiLeaks 'witch-hunt'

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange called on US President Barack Obama to stop its "witch-hunt" against his whistleblowing website, as he gave a speech from Ecuador's embassy in London on Sunday. "I ask President Obama to do the right thing, the United States must renounce its witch-hunt against WikiLeaks," said Assange, making his first public statement since he was granted political asylum by Ecuador. Speaking from a balcony at the embassy in an upmarket district of London, Assange praised the "courage" shown by the Latin American nation's President Rafael Correa for granting him asylum. "I thank President Correa for the courage he has shown in considering and in granting me political asylum," Assange told journalists and a handful of his supporters gathered outside the embassy. The 41-year-old Australian walked into the embassy two months ago after exhausting all legal avenues in Britain in his fight against extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over alleged sex crimes. Assange claims the accusations against him are politically motivated and insists that the United States wants to put him on trial for divulging state secrets. WikiLeaks enraged Washington by releasing video of a US attack in Iraq, as well as tens of thousands of classified US documents about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Earlier WikiLeaks lawyer Baltasar Garzon told crowds outside the embassy: "I have spoken to Julian Assange and I can tell you that he is in fighting spirit. He is thankful to the people of Ecuador and especially to the President (Rafael) Correa for granting him asylum." Reading from a statement, Garzon added that Assange had instructed his lawyers "to carry out a legal action in order to protect the right of WikiLeaks, Julian himself and all those currently being investigated." The Spanish lawyer who is renowned for pursuing Chile's former dictator Augusto Pinochet did not elaborate on the new legal move requested by Assange. WikiLeaks meanwhile urged Sweden, which wants to question the WikiLeaks founder over alleged sexual misconduct, to guarantee it would not extradite him to the United States. "It would be a good basis to negotiate a way to end this matter if the Swedish authorities would declare without any reservation that Julian would never be extradited from Sweden to the USA," WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson told AFP by telephone. As rain fell around the embassy, around 50 police officers, crowds of Assange supporters and members of the public joined the world's media outside the building. Assange, 41, is said to be living in a small room within the embassy, which is situated in London's plush Knightsbridge district and round the corner from the luxury Harrods department store. Amid a widening diplomatic row over the affair, Ecuador on Thursday granted asylum to Assange, whose website enraged the United States by publishing a vast cache of confidential US government files. With police primed to detain him Sunday, Assange spoke from a balcony in order not to step outside. Despite Ecuador providing a haven for Assange, British Foreign Secretary William Hague has said Britain had no choice but to seek his extradition. Britain has angered Ecuador by suggesting it could invoke the Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act of 1987, which it says allows it to revoke the diplomatic immunity of an embassy on British soil and go in to arrest Assange. Assange took refuge in the embassy on June 19 to evade extradition to Sweden. Supporters of the former hacker believe that once in Sweden he could be extradited to the United States. Assange's mother on Sunday expressed confidence that her son would make it to Ecuador to continue his whistleblowing work. "He's had billions of people around the world supporting him, the US and their allies are almost alone on this one and the support grows day by day," she said in an interview with Australia's ABC 24. "It could be that the UK government decides to backtrack from this position of being the US lap dog and stands up for its own sovereignty as well as the sovereignty of Ecuador." The South American country has meanwhile received powerful backing from regional allies as they warned Britain of "grave consequences" if it breaches diplomatic security at the London embassy. Foreign ministers from the Venezuela-led so-called Bolivarian Alliance for the People of Our America (ALBA) flew to Ecuador on Saturday to demonstrate full diplomatic support. "We warn the government of the United Kingdom that it will face grave consequences around the world if it directly breaches the territorial integrity of the Embassy of the Republic of Ecuador in London," said a statement issued at the end of the ALBA meeting. WikiLeaks' publication of a vast cache of confidential government files has enraged the US government, while his backers fear he could be tried on espionage charges there and face the death penalty. In 2010, WikiLeaks published hundreds of thousands of US military documents on the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as diplomatic cables that deeply embarrassed Washington.