Is Ecuador preparing to hand over Julian Assange to British police? Country removes UK ambassador who had been negotiating Wikileaks founder's fate from London embassy

Assange has been holed up inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012

Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno is said to have terminated the credentials of UK ambassador Carlos Abad Ortiz, according to decree published by WikiLeaks

 

The envoy has been key part of negotiations over the 47-year-old whistleblower

 

 

Ecuador has removed a UK ambassador who had been negotiating Julian Assange's fate at the London embassy, sparking speculation the country is preparing to hand the WikiLeaks founder over to British police.

 

 

Assange has been holed up inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012 when he was accused of sexual assault by two women in Sweden. 

 

 

The Australian denied their claims but refused to travel to Sweden to face them, saying it was part of a ruse to extradite him to the US.

 

 

But Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno is now said to have terminated the credentials of his British ambassador, Carlos Abad Ortiz, according to a decree published by WikiLeaks on Wednesday.

 

 

The envoy has been a key part of negotiations over the 47-year-old whistleblower,  who was behind a massive dump of classified US documents in 2010.

 

 

The decree does not say why Ortiz, ambassador to the UK since 2015, has been recalled or who his successor will be, RT reports. 

 

 

In a tweet, WikiLeaks said 'all diplomats known' to Assange have now been 'terminated... transferred away from the embassy'.

 

 

Some have claimed online that the move increases the likelihood of Assange being handed over to British police. 

 

SOURCE

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6421377/Ecuador-removes-UK-ambassador-negotiating-Julian-Assanges-fate-London-embassy.html