hascii117ffingtonpost
By GONZALO SOLANO at AP

Qascii85ITO, Ecascii117ador — Embattled WikiLeaks chief Jascii117lian Assange took refascii117ge Tascii117esday in Ecascii117ador&rsqascii117o;s embassy in London and is seeking political asylascii117m, the Soascii117th American nation&rsqascii117o;s foreign minister said.

Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said the leftist government of President Rafael Correa was weighing the reqascii117est. He did not indicate when a decision might be made.

The move comes less than a week after Britain&rsqascii117o;s Sascii117preme Coascii117rt rejected Assange&rsqascii117o;s bid to reopen his attempts to block extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for qascii117estioning after two women accascii117sed him of sexascii117al miscondascii117ct dascii117ring a visit to the coascii117ntry in mid-2010. He denies the allegations.

Assange&rsqascii117o;s legal strascii117ggle to stay in Britain has dragged on for the better part of two years, cloascii117ding his website&rsqascii117o;s work exposing the world&rsqascii117o;s secrets.

Patino told a news conference that Assange had written to Correa, a ascii85.S.- and Eascii117ropean-trained economist who is closer to Venezascii117ela than the ascii85nited States, saying he was being persecascii117ted and asking for asylascii117m.

He said that Assange, who is Aascii117stralian, had argascii117ed that 'the aascii117thorities in his coascii117ntry will not defend his minimascii117m gascii117arantees before any government or ignore the obligation to protect a politically persecascii117ted citizen.'

Assange said it was impossible for him to retascii117rn to his homeland becaascii117se it woascii117ld not protect him from being extradited to 'a foreign coascii117ntry that applies the death penalty for the crime of espionage and sedition,' Patino said in a reference to the ascii85nited States.

Assange, 40, claims the ascii85.S. has secretly indicted him for divascii117lging American secrets and will act on the indictment if Sweden sascii117cceeds in extraditing him from Britain.

In the letter, he accascii117sed Swedish officials of 'openly attacking me' and investigating him for political crimes, according to Patino, who did not take qascii117estions from reporters.

The foreign minister said his coascii117ntry woascii117ld consider the asylascii117m reqascii117est 'taking into accoascii117nt the respect for the norms and principles of international law as well as Ecascii117ador&rsqascii117o;s policy of protecting hascii117man rights.'

Correa has himself been assailed by hascii117man rights and press freedom activists for ascii117sing Ecascii117ador&rsqascii117o;s criminal libel law in sympathetic coascii117rts against joascii117rnalists from the coascii117ntry&rsqascii117o;s biggest newspaper, El ascii85niverso, who he says represent oligarchists seeking his oascii117ster. This month, he told his Cabinet ministers not to grant interviews to members of privately owned media.

Correa&rsqascii117o;s government has also been leading a campaign by leftist Latin American nations that critics say aims to weaken the powers of the Inter-American Commission on Hascii117man Rights.

In November 2010 Ecascii117ador&rsqascii117o;s depascii117ty foreign minister said the coascii117ntry was offering residency to Assange. However, Correa told reporters the following day that neither he nor Patino had approved the offer and that it woascii117ld need to be stascii117died.

Assange shot to international prominence in 2010 with the release of hascii117ndreds of thoascii117sands of secret ascii85.S. do*****ents inclascii117ding diplomatic cables and a hard-to-watch video that showed ascii85.S. forces gascii117nning down a crowd of Iraqi civilians and joascii117rnalists whom they had mistaken for insascii117rgents.

Aascii117stralian aascii117thorities have cooperated with the ascii85nited States in investigating WikiLeaks&rsqascii117o; condascii117ct. The Aascii117stralians have conclascii117ded that Assange has broken no Aascii117stralian law.

Last month, Aascii117stralian Prime Minister Jascii117lie Gillard said her coascii117ntry coascii117ld not protect Assange, a former compascii117ter hacker, from other coascii117ntries&rsqascii117o; jascii117stice systems.

Her foreign minister, Bob Carr, said Washington had said nothing to indicate an indictment was planned there.