Britain has withdrawn its threats to raid the Ecuadorean Embassy in London to arrest WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and has committed to resume "constructive discussions" to solve the diplomatic dispute, the Guardian reported.

"We consider this unfortunate incident over," Ecuador's President Rafael Correa said Saturday, "after a grave diplomatic error by the British in which they said they would enter our embassy."

Tensions between the two countries have escalated since Assange holed up in the embassy two months ago to avoid extradition to Sweden where he is wanted for questioning in several sexual assault cases. Ecuador has granted Assange asylum but he remains vulnerable to arrest if he steps outside the embassy. Britain threatened to raid the embassy to arrest Assange, sparking a diploamtic furor.

"We remain committed to the process of dialogue we have entered into and we want that to resume with the government of Ecuador," a spokeswoman for the British Foreign Office said.

Assange has been fighting extradition to Sweden over claims he will be turned over the United States to face political prosecuton for the 2010 release of documents concerning the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

The U.S. has filed no charges against Assange and made no attempts to extradite him.

 

Read the story at the Guardian. 

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