Ecuador says it's ready to set a date for Swedish prosecutors to question Julian Assange inside its London embassy - a potential breakthrough in the years-long impasse over the WikiLeaks founder.
The Australian is wanted for questioning by Swedish police over a rape allegation stemming from his visit to the country in 2010. He has not been charged and denies the rape claim and other allegations made against him by two women. In June 2012, he sought shelter in Ecuador's embassy in the British capital and has been holed up there ever since.
Ecuador's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday that a date for the questioning in the embassy would be set "in the coming weeks."
Swedish Prosecution Authority spokeswoman Karin Rosander said Sweden handed over a formal request to interview Assange in January, and a reminder in June, and received Ecuador's reply on Tuesday.
"It means that a questioning can make the case go forward," Rosander told The Associated Press. "This is decisive to be able to take a decision whether to formally charge him or not."
Rosander said the Swedish prosecutor is on vacation and no date has been set for the trip to London.
In a statement, the office of Ecuador's chief prosecutor said Ecuadorean officials would handle the questioning under an accord signed with Sweden in December.
The statement said chief prosecutor Galo Chiriboga would, in the coming days, designate a team to "receive" the testimony from Assange at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London.
Assange's defence team said in a statement that it welcomed the steps to take the WikiLeaks founder's statement, which it said "comes after six years of complete inaction on the part of the Swedish prosecutor."
Assange, 45, fears that if he is extradited to Sweden he will be sent to the United States to be prosecuted for WikiLeaks' publication of secret documents, including reams of US diplomatic cables.
He faces arrest by British police if he leaves the building and, with the exception of occasional trips to the embassy balcony, has not been outside for years.
