Chile's government urged to support Ecuador

SANTIAGO, Chile - Chile's opposition Socialist Party (PS) on Sunday urged the government to support Ecuador in granting political asylum to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

"We call on the government of Chile to reject the conduct of the government of (British Prime Minister David) Cameron. Our recent history supports our demand for respecting the principles and norms of the international law, which Britain is attempting to violate," the PS said in a statement.

Assange, who has been taking refuge in Ecuador's embassy in London since June 19, "is the victim of political persecution and a smear campaign orchestrated mainly by the United States," the PS added.

"It is impossible to accept having the principle of freedom of information trampled on by Great Britain, especially as it tries to use false arguments to revoke the diplomatic immunity of Ecuador's embassy," said the PS.

Britain and Ecuador have been at odds recently as Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa announced Thursday asylum had been granted to Australia-born Assange.

London threatened to break into the Ecuadorian embassy if the Latin American nation gave asylum to Assange. The British Foreign Office said that it would deny Assange safe passage out of London despite his being given asylum.

Ecuador cited the probability that Assange would face a military trial, imprisonment or even death for leaking tens of thousands of secret US military documents through his whistleblower website in 2010.

Chile's government, meanwhile, has described the diplomatic row as a bilateral affair between Ecuador and Britain that requires no input from third parties, though other countries in the region, such as Bolivia and Venezuela, have expressed their support for Ecuador.

Swedish authorities say they want to question Assange for alleged sexual misconduct and have asked Britain to hand him over. However, neither government has ruled out his extradition to the United States if Washington requests it.