Ecuador's Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino holds up a photograph of what he says is the electric socket at his country's embassy in London where a hidden microphone was found, during a press conference in London in Quito, Ecuador, Wednesday, July 3, 2013. Patino said that two weeks ago a hidden microphone was found where Wikileaks founder and publisher Julian Assange is holed up. "We want to find out with precision what the origin of the apparatus is." (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa) (AP2013)
London – A British surveillance company has denied Ecuador's allegation that it planted a bug inside the South American country's London embassy.
The Surveillance Group Ltd. Said Thursday that the claim was "wholly untrue."
Chief executive Timothy Young said he and his company "do not and have never been engaged in any activities of this nature" and had first learned of the allegation from the media.
Ecuador's government said Wednesday that a microphone found in its London embassy, where Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is staying, was hidden inside an electrical outlet in the office of the ambassador.
Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino told a news conference in Quito that the bug was found in mid-June when Ecuadorean technicians reviewed the embassy's wiring.
The purpose of the hidden microphone was to listen to the conversations of Ambassador Ana Alban in her office, Patino said, holding up a picture of the purported bug. Assange lives and works in a different room in the embassy.
"We have reason to believe that the bugging was carried out by The Surveillance Group Limited, one of the largest private investigation and covert surveillance companies in the United Kingdom," he said.
The foreign minister said Ecuador was going to ask for the cooperation of Britain's government in investigating the alleged bugging.
The system worked with a SIM card and could be activated by a call from any cellular of fixed-line phone, he said.
Assange was granted asylum by Ecuador last year. He has been living inside the South American country's embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden to face allegations by two women of sexual assault, which he denies. Britain will not give him safe passage if he leaves the embassy.
Assange believes extradition to Sweden is merely a first step in efforts to remove him to the U.S., where he has infuriated officials by publishing secret documents including 250,000 State Department cables.
Based on reporting by The Associated Press.
Follow us on twitter.com/foxnewslatino
Like us at facebook.com/foxnewslatino
Antisemitism Exposed
Fox News' Antisemitism Exposed" newsletter brings you stories on the rising anti-Jewish prejudice across the U.S. and the world."
By entering your email and clicking the Subscribe button, you agree to the Fox News Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, and agree to receive content and promotional communications from Fox News. You understand that you can opt-out at any time.