ECUADOR AND UK IMPASSE OVER JULIAN ASSANGE'S ASYLUM A year has passed since Julian Assange sought refuge

in Ecuador's embassy in London. While the WikiLeaks founder has not gone beyond the balcony at the embassys headquarters, much movement has been going on behind the scenes. His decision to seek refuge in Ecuador's embassy caught many international observers by surprise, raising questions about why the South American country would be interested in protecting him. Ecuador is not a country that seeks for freedom of speech and had cases of putting behind jail people who express their opinion, just like El Universos president and publishers. This meant that Mr. Assange would avoid arrest and deportation to Sweden if he stayed in the Ecuadorean embassy. Any attempt to leave would result in his immediate arrest. While the Assange case gave Ecuador a high profile, it also put the country in a delicate diplomatic position. At first the British government threat the Ecuadorian with forcing their way into the embassy which result in angered replies from president Correa and then, even the USA, expression total rejection to the countrys behavior. So far Ecuador has tried to negotiate safe conduct with the UK government so Mr Assange can leave the embassy without being arrested. But the UK insists it is legally obliged to extradite Mr Assange to Sweden where he is wanted for questioning over allegations of rape and sexual assault. The Australian campaigner fears that if he is sent to Sweden, he may be extradited to the US, where he could face the death penalty for disclosing confidential government information. Ecuador's relations with Mr Assange have had ups and downs since his WikiLeaks website first released US state department diplomatic cables in November 2010. Reaching a point where even Assange called the country small and without much international knowledge

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