Swedish prosecutor plans to arrest Assange

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- A Swedish prosecutor said Thursday she would seek the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for questioning on allegations of rape and other charges.

Marianne Ny, director of the Stockholm prosecutor's office, said in a statement an arrest warrant for Assange would be sought, even though Assange is not in the country, The New York Times reported.

Assange, whose whistle-blowing Web site published thousands of sensitive U.S. Defense Department documents on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has been in London since early October but it wasn't clear whether the 39-year-old Australian still was in Britain.

"I request the District Court of Stockholm to detain Mr. Assange in his absence, suspected of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion," Ny said in a statement. "The reason for my request is that we have been unable to interrogate him. So far, we have not been able to meet with him to accomplish the interrogations."

The allegations of rape and sexual molestation against Assange arose shortly after he arrived in Sweden in August, the Times said. At the time he said he was traveling to Sweden to consider whether to establish a secure base for himself and WikiLeaks under Sweden's broad press freedom laws.

Assange has been quoted as saying he was growing concerned about his personal safety, the Times said. In October, the WikiLeaks founder said he may have to relocate to Moscow or Havana to establish a secure base for himself and his site.