Ecuador President Lenin Moreno has confirmed that his country is looking to end Wikileaks founder Julian Assange's asylum at the Ecuador embassy in the UK, days after reports of the news have been doing rounds in the media.
Speaking to reporters after meeting Spain's King Felipe and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Madrid, Moreno said Assange must leave the embassy eventually. "I have never been in favour of Assange's activity," he added.
Moreno was in Madrid after a three-day visit to the UK, where he met with British officials to work out a situation to Assange, who has been holed up at the embassy since 2012. Moreno acknowledged that he was in constant contact with the British government and the Ecuadorean ambassador, adding that "The only person I've never talked to is Assange."
"I have never agreed with the interventions in people's private emails in order to obtain information, however valuable it may be, to bring out certain undesirable acts of governments or people, not in that way. There are correct and legal ways to do it," he said on Assange's case.
"What we want is for his life not to be in danger," Moreno said. He also added that he believed that no one should remain under asylum for "too long".
The WikiLeaks founder was granted asylum after he fled to the embassy following allegations of sexual harassment in Sweden, while the country has since dropped the charges against him Assange fears prosecution in the UK for skipping bail, as well as the US who are looking to extradite him and question his role in the Chelsea Manning case.
Since being elected in May, Moreno has taken a tough stance on Assange's case, calling him an "inherited problem" and a "stone in the shoe".
