UK recognizes that Assange cannot be extradited to Sweden

Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño met with UK Foreign Secretary William Hague during the UN General Assembly. Patiño says that Britain now recognizes that due to Assange's asylum status with Ecuador, he cannot be extradited to Sweden.

A summary of the talks held between the two officials is that Patiño says he has received written confirmation from Britain that the country recognizes the validity of its 1880 extradition treaty with Ecuador. Under this agreement a person, like Assange, who has been granted political asylum in Ecuador, cannot be extradited to a third country.

Assange gave a speech via a video link to the United Nations General Assembly, where he said that neither the UK nor Sweden had so far guaranteed that he would not be extradited to the US, where both he and WikiLeaks have been officially declared "enemies of the state."