厄瓜多爾給予阿桑奇政治避難惹怒英國

Ecuador granted political asylum to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Thursday, setting the stage for a tense standoff between the Andean nation and the U.K., which vowed to extradite Mr. Assange to Sweden to face questioning in a sexual-assault investigation.

厄瓜多爾週四給予維基解密(WikiLeaks)創始人阿桑奇(Julian Assange)政治避難，這個南美洲國家與英國的關係或將進入緊張對立狀態。英國已經誓言要將阿桑奇引渡到瑞典，以便他在那裏接受一起性侵犯案的調查質詢。

Ecuador's foreign minister, Ricardo Patino, told reporters in Quito Thursday that the country had granted Mr. Assange asylum to protect him from 'political persecution' in the U.S., which Mr. Assange says wants to prosecute him for WikiLeaks' role in publishing thousands of classified U.S. government documents.

厄瓜多爾外交部長帕蒂諾(Ricardo Patino)週四在基多對記者們說，厄瓜多爾已給予了阿桑奇避難待遇，以保護他免於在美國受到“政治迫害”。阿桑奇稱，由於維基解密公佈了數千份美國政府的機密文件，自己面臨着美國政府的迫害。

A U.S. Justice Department spokesman on Tuesday declined to comment on Mr. Assange. The U.S. hasn't charged him with any crime and has no extradition request.

美國司法部的一名發言人週二拒絕就阿桑奇置評。美國方面目前尚未以任何罪名指控阿桑奇，也沒有提出引渡他來美國的要求。

U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a news conference that Britain wouldn't guarantee safe passage for Mr. Assange and reiterated his intent to uphold the U.K.'s obligation to extradite the WikiLeaks boss. He also suggested the U.K. could use a little-known 1987 law to enter the Ecuadorian embassy and arrest Mr. Assange. Mr. Hague said the standoff could amount to a waiting game of months or even years. 'There are no time limits,' he said.

英國外交大臣黑格(William Hague)在一個新聞發佈會上說，英國將不會予以阿桑奇安全通行權，並且重申他打算堅持履行英國引渡這名維基解密負責人的責任。黑格還表示，英國可以按照1987年頒佈的一部鮮爲人知的法律，進入厄瓜多爾駐英國大使館並逮捕阿桑奇。黑格說，目前的僵持局面可能意味着雙方會打一場持續數月甚至數年的拖延戰。他說“這種僵持沒有盡頭”。

Mr. Patino didn't explain how Ecuador planned to transport Mr. Assange from Ecuador's embassy in London to Ecuador.

帕蒂諾沒有說明厄瓜多爾計劃如何將阿桑奇從厄瓜多爾駐倫敦大使館轉移到厄瓜多爾。

Mr. Assange requested asylum at Ecuador's embassy on June 19, in an attempt to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over allegations that he raped one woman and molested another during a trip to Stockholm in 2010. He denies the allegations, and he hasn't been charged with wrongdoing.

阿桑奇於6月19日向厄瓜多爾駐英國大使館尋求避難，以避免被引渡到瑞典。瑞典方面目前正在通緝阿桑奇，他們想就阿桑奇被指於2010年在斯德哥爾摩旅行期間強姦一名女性並猥褻另一名女性一事對其進行質詢。阿桑奇否認了這些說法，他目前也沒有因任何不當行爲受到指控。

The WikiLeaks founder has long suggested that the Swedish investigation is politically motivated and backed by Washington as a way to speed what he contends would be his eventual extradition to the U.S. He hasn't explained why he thinks Sweden would be more likely to extradite him to the U.S. than the U.K. would. Sweden denies that its probe has any link to the U.S.

這名維基解密的創始人一直表示，瑞典方面對他的調查受到了政治因素的驅使，並得到了美國政府的支持，最終目的是爲了加速將其引渡至美國。阿桑奇沒有解釋爲什麼他認爲瑞典比英國更有可能將其引渡至美國。瑞典否認對阿桑奇的調查與美國有關。