US rejects diplomatic asylum to Assange

A State Department statement said,The United States is not a party to the 1954 OAS Convention on Diplomatic Asylum and does not recognise the concept of diplomatic asylum as a matter of international law.

The US statement came as the WikiLeaks founder continued to hole up in the Ecuador Embassy in Britain,with no signs yet of his move to seek a passage to Quito.

As the stalemate between Britain and Ecuador continued on the issue,Quito has offered to let Assange stay indefinitely in its embassy in London. Ecuador has also turned to OAS to seek support for its move to offer asylum to the fugitive Australian.

We believe this is a bilateral issue between Ecuador and the United Kingdom and the OAS has no role to play in this matter, the State Department said.

Supporters of the WikiLeaks founder believe Assange is at risk of extradition to the US after angering the American authorities by leaking out sensitive diplomatic cables.

Meanwhile,Australia,Assanges home country,on Saturday said its embassy in Washington had been preparing for his possible extradition to the US.