Post date: Aug 16, 2012 10:52:38 AM
Tensions build at the Ecuadorean embassy in London after Britain says it might enter the building to seize Julian Assange.
LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (AUGUST 16, 2012) (REUTERS) - British police and protesters chanting slogans in support of Julian Assange tussled outside the Ecuadorean embassy in London on Thursday (August 16) after Britain said it might enter the building to detain the WikiLeaks founder holed up inside.
A Reuters reporter saw at least three protesters being dragged away by police as the crowd shouted: "You are trying to start a war with Ecuador".
About 20 officers were outside the embassy trying to push away the crowd of about 15 supporters.
Britain told Ecuador on Thursday that giving Assange asylum would not change a thing and that it might still revoke the diplomatic status of Quito's embassy in London to allow the extradition of the WikiLeaks founder.
The Ecuadorean government, which said it would announce its decision on Assange's asylum request on Thursday at 7 a.m. (1200 GMT), said any attempt to remove the diplomatic status of its embassy would be considered a "hostile and intolerable act".
"It is too early to say when or if Britain will revoke the Ecuadorean embassy's diplomatic status," a Foreign Office spokesman said by telephone.
"Giving asylum doesn't fundamentally change anything," the spokesman said, adding that Britain had a legal duty to extradite Assange to Sweden where he is wanted to stand trial for rape.
Quito bristled at the threat, with Ecuador's foreign minister saying, "We're not a British colony."
Ecuador, whose government is part of a left-leaning bloc of nations in South America, called for meetings of regional foreign ministers and the hemispheric Organization of American States to rally support in its complaint against Britain.