International warrant issued for Assange

Swedish police have issued an international arrest warrant for Julian Assange, the founder of whistleblower website Wikileaks, for alleged rape and sexual assault, Press TV reported.

A Swedish court ordered an arrest warrant for Assange to be detained for questioning.

Although his whereabouts are unknown, he is believed to be in Britain.

He has repeatedly denied the charges, saying that they are part of "a smear campaign" against his website.

His lawyer, Bjorn Hurtig, said he will file an appeal at the Stockholm District Court.

Swedish prosecutors had previously issued an arrest warrant for Assange in August, but dropped the charges one day later. The case, however, has been kept open.

Assange claims that he had been warned by the Australian intelligence that he would likely face a campaign to discredit him before the charges were leveled against him.

Last month, Wikileaks published 400,000 classified US documents on the Iraq war. Assange claims the documents show an additional undisclosed 15,000 Iraqi civilian deaths.

The website also posted 77,000 secret US files on the war in Afghanistan back in July.

Earlier this month, Assange asserted that he might seek political asylum in Switzerland as US officials are mounting too much pressure on him.

Assange was refused an application for residence in Sweden in October. The Australian had sought to establish a base for Wikileaks there to take advantage of its strict laws protecting journalists.