Sweden To Quiz Julian Assange On Rape Claim At Ecuadorian Embassy In London

(Reuters) - Ecuador will allow Swedish prosecutors to interview Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in its London embassy, where Assange has been living since June 2012, Ecuador’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

Swedish authorities want to question Assange, 45, over allegations that he committed rape in 2010. He denies the allegations. He avoided possible extradition to Sweden by taking refuge in Ecuador’s embassy in London.

“In the coming weeks, a date will be established for the proceedings to be held at the Embassy of Ecuador in the United Kingdom”, Ecuador’s foreign ministry said in the statement.

In late May, a Swedish lower court upheld the arrest warrant for Assange, saying the stay at Ecuador’s London embassy did not equal detention.

Last year, Sweden’s Supreme Court rejected a previous appeal by Assange to revoke a detention order.

(Reporting by Violette Goarant,; editing by Sven Nordenstam, Larry King)