Britain warned Ecuador Wednesday that it was prepared to enter its London embassy if the South American country did not hand over Wikileaks icon Julian Assange, who has been staying at the embassy for eight weeks after losing a legal battle to avoid extradition to Sweden.

As Reuters reports, Assange, who faces likely rape charges in Sweden, is not so much worried about crossing the North Sea, but fears the Swedish government forwarding him on to the United States, where he has antagonized numerous senior government officials through his release of thousands of diplomatic cables and worries those powerful people are seeking retribution.

Although the British government stressed its desire for a "diplomatically agreeable solution" that would not happen "overnight", as a Foreign Office spokesman said to Reuters, Ecuadorian officials reacted angrily to the implication, with its foreign minister emphasizing that "the colonial times are over."

President of Ecuador Rafael Correa, who befriended Assange during a television interview, and often rails against Western imperialism and the media, would like to keep Assange free from arrest, but even an offer of asylum would give him no legal protection on British soil. This has led to speculation about how Assange could be smuggled out of the United Kingtom.

Ecuador has announced that it will rule on granting asylum to Assange at 7 a.m. eastern time Thursday.

 

Reach Executive Producer Matt Pressberg here.