December 1st, 2010 
admin Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – The hunt was on, Wednesday, for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange after Sweden issued an arrest warrant for him. The Swedish government is investigating him for rape while the U.S. government is outraged against him for leaking more than 251,000 documents that describe sometimes secret State Department communications.
Assange, 39, says the rape charges against him hide the real motives of government officials who want to silence his Web site that leaks secret documents.
He says he had only consensual sex with two Swedish women.
Nevertheless, Interpol added his name to its Most Wanted list.
Assange’s whereabouts were unknown by Wednesday afternoon after the globe-trotting Australian hacker apparently went into hiding.
Government officials from Ecuador initially offered him asylum but later tempered the offer by saying they would consider any request Assange might make to stay in their country to avoid prosecution.
On Monday, Ecuadorean Deputy Foreign Minister Kintto Lucas was quoted in the local media saying the government was trying to contact Assange.
“We are inviting him to give conferences and, if he wants, we have offered him Ecuadorean residency,” he said.
On Wednesday, Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa backed off his foreign minister’s comments.
He said WikiLeaks “has committed an error by breaking the laws of the United States and leaking this type of information.”
Lucas was speaking on his own behalf but “no official offer was made” of residency by the Ecuadoran government, Correa said.
Correa is one of several Latin American leaders who have sharply criticized U.S. foreign policy previously.
As early as this year Assange has checked into possibilities of obtaining residency in Switzerland and Sweden.
He dropped his plans to move to Sweden when he was investigated for the sexual assault charges this summer.
Even if Assange escapes from Swedish authorities, he could face U.S. criminal charges.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced Monday that he has launched an investigation of Wikileaks and Assange’s methods for obtaining classified information.
Former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin joined other politicians in saying he should be prosecuted.
So far, the damage from the leaked documents appears to be modest. It consists mostly of comments made by diplomats in private conversations and memos that are embarrassing but not devastating to U.S. foreign policy.
Assange appears to be unrepentant, even planning to publish more leaked documents soon.
Some of the next documents are likely to involve Russian government officials and businessmen, he said in a report published in the Christian Science Monitor.
Assange was quoted telling a Moscow reporter, “We have [compromising materials] about Russia, about your government and businessmen. We will publish these materials soon.”
He also has said he will publish documents about an American bank after the New Year.
Forbes magazine quoted Assange saying he would publish a “megaleak” of corporate secrets. “It could take down a bank or two,” he said.
One bank would be hit hardest but he refused to name it.
However, last year he was quoted in Computerworld magazine saying he had obtained a 5-gigabyte hard drive from a Bank of America executive.
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