Ecuador : Britain withdraws threat to raid embassy

Ecuador's President Rafael Correa said that Britain has withdrawn a threat to enter Ecuador's embassy in London to arrest WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange who has taken refuge theresince June 2012. "We consider this unfortunate incident over, after a grave diplomatic error by the British in which they said they would enter our embassy," Correa said in a weekly media address. Ecuador's government said in a statement that it had received "a communication from the British Foreign Office which said that there was no threat to enter the embassy." A move that should improve relations between Quito and London and allow more talks on Assange's fate to take place. British government says it is determined to fulfill the "legal obligation" of extraditing Assange to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over rape and sexual assault allegations. On the other hand, about 40 supporters of Assange gathered in front of the American embassy in London to protest against the arrest and trial of US soldier Bradley Manning who is accused of leaking documents to WikiLeaks. They carried banners demanding the release of Manning, who worked as an intelligence analyst of during his service in Iraq. Manning is accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables and war reports to WikiLeaks. 24 years Manning, is facing the charge of aiding the enemy, which is one of the most serious criminal charges punishable by life imprisonment.