British PM Cameron calls on Assange to end embassy 'sorry saga'

London, Feb 10: UK Prime Minister David Cameron today called on WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to end the "sorry saga" by leaving the Ecuadorian embassy here, where he has been holed up for more than three and a half years to avoid extradition to Sweden to face rape charges.

Addressing the lower House of Commons during his weekly Prime Minister's Questions, Cameron also described a recent UN ruling that Assange had been arbitrarily detained as a "ridiculous decision".

"You've got a man here with an outstanding allegation of rape against him. He barricaded himself into the Ecuadorian embassy and yet claims he was arbitrarily detained. The only person who detained himself – was himself.

"And so what he should do is come out of that embassy and face the arrest warrant that is against him... He should bring to the end this whole sorry saga," Cameron said.

Assange has been in asylum in the Ecuador embassy since 2012. The 44-year-old Australian national fears if he enters Sweden to face rape charges, he will be deported from there to the US over WikiLeaks' release of 500,000 secret military files.

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention had ruled last week that Assange is a victim of arbitrary detention and should be allowed to walk free.

Swedish prosecutor Marianne Ny said yesterday that she aims to question former computer hacker Assange inside the embassy despite the ruling.

The UK Foreign Office had also issued a statement saying that the ruling "changes nothing."

Assange was originally arrested in London in 2010 under a European Arrest Warrant issued by Sweden over rape and sexual assault claims.

In 2012, while on bail, he claimed asylum inside the Ecuadorian embassy in central London after the UK Supreme Court ruled that the extradition against him could go ahead.

He is wanted for questioning in Sweden over sex assault allegations against two women, which he denies.

PTI