Swedish authorities have issued an arrest warrant for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange over two allegations of rape, state prosecutors said Saturday.
A spokeswoman for the Stockholm state prosecutor was quoted by radio station SR as saying that two women had come forward with the allegations, following a visit by the Australian information activist to Sweden a week ago, reported DPA.
WikiLeaks shot to prominence in July, after the internet site, which campaigns for freedom of information, published thousands of classified documents relating to the conduct of the war in Afghanistan.
Assange is reported to have rejected the accusations by e-mail, and has said he will contact the police.
In an e-mail to the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet Assange is reported to have said "of course the accusations of rape aren't true."
It remains unclear if the Australian national is still in Sweden.
The prosecutor spokeswoman said that the two women had not laid formal charges against Assange, but that given the severity of the accusations and the danger of suppression of evidence, the arrest warrant had been issued.
Assange had whilst in Stockholm agreed cooperation with the Swedish Pirate Party, which will make internet server capacity available to the website free of charge.