It’s actually hilarious. There’s clearly nothing in them but a bit of gossip that everyone would have suspected to be true anyway about politicians that are no longer of any relevance to anyone. However, they have obviously paid up for the “Ireland Cables” so they have to try to sell it as something sensational. The best they can come up with is to try to make the fact that politicians are talking to the US Embassy into the story, which is about as sensational as the news that I had a good wank earlier this evening.
The one about Mary McAleese was funny.
Vinny: ‘It’s says she was good for the peace process. Sure we knew that?’
Very good doc on More4 now
JULIAN Assange faces arrest regardless of whether or not Ecuador grants him political asylum, and could end up behind bars for years while he continues to fight extradition.
The WikiLeaks founder has spent the past two nights holed up in the South American country’s London embassy, in an attempt to avoid being sent to Sweden for questioning over alleged sex crimes.
But experts and authorities believe that even if Ecuador were to grant him asylum, he would face arrest the minute he walked out of the Knightsbridge building because he has breached his bail conditions.
He is meant to remain at a bail address in Tunbridge Wells between 10pm and 8am every night while his appeals continue.
If he were judged to be a flight risk, he could end up in jail until he exhausts his options for avoiding extradition. And if he takes his case to the European Court of Human Rights, the process could drag on for years.
Mr Assange, a 40 year-old Australian, cannot be given diplomatic immunity by Ecuador as conferred on other embassy staff, because the Foreign Office would not approve the application.
And even if he were made an Ecuadorian citizen or granted asylum, he would still be liable to be arrested on departure from the embassy.
Last night in an interview from inside the embassy, Mr Assange accused Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard of “slimy rhetoric” and acused Swedish authorities of failing to respect his human rights.
“The Swedes announced publicly, that they would detain me, in prison, without charge while they continued their so-called investigation.”
He dismissed repeated claims from her government that he had been receiving ongoing consular assistance.
“I haven’t met with anyone from the Australian High Commission since December 2010,” he said.
Explaining why he chose Ecuador, he added: “We had heard that the Ecuadoreans were sympathetic in relation to my struggles and the struggles of the organisation with the United States.
“We are in a position to draw attention to what is happening. The Department of Justice in the United States has been playing a little game, and that little game is that they refuse to confirm or deny the existence of a grand jury. We are hoping what I am doing now will draw attention to the underlying issues.”
Hours earlier, speaking on the steps, a policeman told reporters: “I am not aware of any agreements which would allow him safe passage out of the UK.”
Scotland Yard confirmed: “A successful asylum bid does not change the fact that he has breached his bail conditions.”
One legal expert, the former government lawyer Carl Gardner[/url], suggested that Mr Assange could try becoming Ecuador’s representative to the [url=“http://searchtopics.independent.ie/topic/United_Nations”]United Nations as a way to escape the country.
He wrote on Twitter: “It’s hard to think how Assange could leave the embassy, escape arrest and get on a plane. Except as Ecuador’s new representative to the UN.
The embassy, in a six-storey Victorian building, is only accessible by a front and side door that are monitored by police, so it is unlikely he could leave without being spotted.
Another option would be for him to remain in the embassy indefinitely.
The Foreign Office declined to comment on the possible ways by which Mr Assange could evade arrest.
The maverick journalist and former computer hacker is responsible for the leaking of thousands of sensitive US diplomatic cables and military files, and fears he will be extradited to America by Sweden.
His bid for refuge at the Ecuadorian embassy on Tuesday surprised his high-profile supporters – including Jemima Khan[/url], [url=“http://searchtopics.independent.ie/topic/Ken_Loach”]Ken Loach and Michael Moore – and they are likely to lose the total of £240,000 bail bond they put up for him when he was first arrested in 2010.
The President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, was expected to give instructions on the WikiLeaks founder’s application late on Thursday or the following day.
Mr Assange is thought to have chosen Ecuador as a place of refuge as it previously offered him residency, and after interviewing the president last month.
However the cables leaked by Mr Assange’s whistle-blowing website also disclosed the country’s poor human rights record.
- Martin Beckford, and Andrew Hough
© Telegraph.co.uk
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been granted political asylum by Ecuador after taking refuge in the country’s embassy in London.
The decision was announced by foreign affairs minister Ricardo Patino in the Ecuadorian capital Quito.
Mr Patino said: “The government of Ecuador is certain that the British government know how to value justice and righteousness of the Ecuadorian position and, consistent with these arguments, confident that the UK will offer, as soon as possible, safe passage guarantees necessary.”
A British Foreign Office spokesman said the government was “disappointed” by Mr Patino’s statement.
He added: “Under UK law with Mr Assange having exhausted all options of appeal the British authorities are under a binding obligation to extradite him to Sweden. We shall carry out that obligation.”
Mr Assange sought sanctuary in the embassy in Knightsbridge in an effort to avoid deportation to Sweden, where he faces sexual assault charges. He denies the allegations.
Ecuadorian ministers accused the UK of threatening to “attack” the embassy to seize Mr Assange after it emerged that a 1987 law could allow the revocation of a building’s diplomatic status if the foreign power occupying it “ceases to use land for the purposes of its mission or exclusively for the purposes of a consular post”.
Under international law, diplomatic posts are considered the territory of the foreign nation.
A small group of protesters chanting slogans in support of Mr Assange has gathered outside the embassy.
A Reuters reporter saw at least three protesters being dragged away by police as the crowd shouted: “You are trying to start a war with Ecuador.”
Mr Assange, a former computer hacker, angered the US in 2010 when his WikiLeaks website published secret diplomatic cables.
Mr Assange has been taking refuge in the embassy since 19 June.
The Australian anti-secrecy campaigner said he feared he could be sent to the US, where his life would be at risk
Rafael Correa is an alright sort.
Yeah he is a big believer in free speech alright.
The US State Dept has the Brits running around like frightened hens. The mask has slipped big time today.
I guess Correa and his refusal to toe the US line would make you long for the days of the US-backed puppets in South America alright.
The Brits want to dump an international treaty and storm an embassy (in complete violation of international law) to get a bloke who doesn’t even have charges laid against him. This the country that sheltered the mass murdering Augusto Pinochet.
Yup, terrible decision by whoever sent that letter. I presume they wouldn’t be stupid enough to actually follow through with the threat though. Granting someone asylum from the notoriously vicious Swedish justice system also seems a bit strange to me though.
The whistleblower who disclosed to he Guardian the extent of the technology monitoring taking place in the US has given an interview to the Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2013/jun/09/nsa-whistleblower-edward-snowden-interview-video
Scary stuff.
[quote=“Rocko, post: 784044, member: 1”]The whistleblower who disclosed to he Guardian the extent of the technology monitoring taking place in the US has given an interview to the Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2013/jun/09/nsa-whistleblower-edward-snowden-interview-video
Scary stuff.[/quote]
Deary me
[SIZE=4][FONT=Times New Roman]Well… I don’t like the way the country’s ran, don’t you know, and, erm… that’s pretty much what i was expressing in my poem. The government… the American government - they’re sneaky, they’re very deceitful, they’re liars, they’re cheats, they’re rip-offs. I mean, the American government is one systematic government that…that nobody can trust. I don’t trust them myself. [/FONT][/SIZE]
I’ve been warning ye for years about this and ye just wouldn’t listen
Wikileaks going to release something shortly involving “an unprecedented national security injunction involving 4 nations” 
The Runt was so wise
