WikiLeaks' Assange Fears U.S., Says Will Stay In Embassy

Wednesday (June 19) marks the one year anniversary of Assange's entry into the embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden. In an interview with Reuters text journalist and others to mark the milestone, Assange said he remained hopeful he might be able to leave but offered little evidence to suggest he would be finding new living quarters anytime soon."I wouldn't say I wouldn't leave," he said. "(But) my lawyers have advised me I shouldn't leave the embassy because of the risk of arrest in relation to the risk of arrest and extradition to the United States."

When asked whether he would remain inside even if Sweden dropped the investigation against him, Assange said: "That's correct."

Assange chose his words carefully in the interview, which was conducted last Friday under embargo. In a wide-ranging discussion behind drawn white net curtains, Assange hailed Edward Snowden, a former contractor for the U.S. National Security Agency who made revelations about U.S. surveillance programs, as a hero.

He also railed against the United States, Britain and his native Australia and talked about his case with semi-legal expertise.

41-year-old Assange fled to the Ecuadorean Embassy last June to avoid extradition to Sweden, which wants to question him about allegations of sexual assault and rape, which he denies.

He says he does not want to answer the allegations in person because he believesSweden would hand him over to the U.S. authorities, who would try him for helping facilitate one of the largest information leaks in U.S. history.

WikiLeaks began releasing thousands of confidential U.S. documents on the Internet in 2010, embarrassing the United States and, according to some critics, putting its national security and people's lives at risk.

The court-martial of Bradley Manning, the U.S. soldier accused of providing reams of classified documents to WikiLeaks, is under way in Maryland.

Ecuador has granted Assange political asylum, but Britain has made it clear he will be arrested if he tries to leave the building, which is heavily guarded by police.

Assange said he initially thought he might be holed up in the embassy, a diplomatic facility in one of London's most fashionable areas, for up to two years. His original timetable was still a fair estimate, he told his interviewers.

When asked whether he was worried the situation could drag on much longer, he conceded it was a possibility.

Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino met with Assange on Sunday (June 16), and crowd cheered when both men appeared at the embassy window.