Julian Assange Tells Ecuadorian TV He Thinks Sweden Will Drop Sexual Assault Case Against Him

Assange 'Believes Sweden Will Drop Case'

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who faces arrest and extradition to Sweden over alleged sexual offences if he sets foot outside the Ecuadorian embassy in Knightsbridge, insisted that he believes the case against him will be dropped.

The 41-year-old Australian, who also said he believes he could camp out at the embassy for up to a year, made the claims in a TV interview broadcast in Ecuador.

Assange said he believed it would take between "six and 12 months" for the issue to be resolved.

Assange was granted asylum by Ecuador after seeking sanctuary in the country's diplomatic mission in June.

Assange, speaking from the Ecuadorian embassy after being granted asylum

In an interview inside the embassy, he told Telesur he believed the issue "will be solved through diplomacy".

Assange added: "The Swedish government could drop the case. I think this is the most likely scenario. Maybe after a thorough investigation of what happened they could drop the case.

"I think this will be solved in between six and 12 months. That's what I estimate."

Ecuador has claimed that Britain threatened to storm its embassy after Foreign Official highlighted available powers to enter the building and make the arrest, an assertion strenuously denied by Mr Hague.

The Foreign Secretary said on Friday: "This may go on for a long time so we are not making a threat against the embassy of Ecuador."

While talks aimed at finding a way of ending the stand-off would continue, he added: "Given Ecuador's position on what they call diplomatic asylum and our very clear legal position, such a solution is not in sight at the moment."

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