Ecuador to give Assange asylum decision Thursday

Assange is wanted for questioning over sexual assault allegations in Sweden, but says he fears deportation to the United States, which may seek to try him for his website\'s release of a trove of secret documents.

Patino said Wednesday that Ecuador "has made a decision" and will announce it Thursday at 7:00 am (1200 GMT). Patino had earlier presented a report on the case to Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa.

The 41-year-old Assange, an Australian national, took refuge at the embassy on June 19 to avoid extradition to Sweden, which he says plans to surrender him to US authorities.

But even if the asylum request is granted, it is unclear whether Assange will be allowed to leave as British police are waiting outside the embassy ready to arrest him for breaching the terms of his bail granted in 2010.

"They could storm our embassy if Ecuador does not hand over Julian Assange," Patino said.

"The position taken by the government of Great Britain is unacceptable, both from the political and the legal point of view," the foreign minister said.

He warned that entering the embassy without authorization "would be a flagrant violation of the Vienna Convention" on diplomatic relations.

Assange had embarked on a marathon round of court battles, but finally exhausted all his options under British law in June when the Supreme Court overturned his appeal against extradition.

Quito had said it was reviewing the sexual misconduct allegations as it weighs his asylum request. Assange maintains he had consensual sex with the alleged Swedish victims.

Correa has said that the mere possibility that Assange could face capital punishment in the United States could be reason enough for his government to grant the activist\'s asylum petition.

Assange\'s WikiLeaks website infuriated Washington when it released hundreds of thousands of secret war reports from Iraq and Afghanistan and countless US embassy cables containing unguarded and at times embarrassing remarks by a number of world leaders and diplomats.

The leftist Correa has often been at odds with Washington and has expressed support for Assange, offering him asylum as far back as 2010 before later backing off.

Offering shelter to a high-profile figure like Assange -- hailed as a whistleblower by his supporters -- could help Correa push back against critics who accuse him of clamping down on press freedom.

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