Ecuador granted political asylum to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, setting stage for an unprecedented diplomatic stand-off with the UK, which has threatened to extradite him to Sweden come what may. Two months after he dramatically sought refuge in its embassy here to evade extradition to Sweden to face sexual assault charges, Ecuador's leftist government said it had decided to take Assange under its wing over fears that he might eventually be sent to the US to face "military courts". Ecuadoran Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said at a news conference in the Ecuador capital that Sweden, Britain and the US had failed to provide guarantees that the 41-year-old Australian will not be extradited to the US from Sweden.

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