Ecuador denies decision made to expel Wikileaks founder

FILE- In this Friday May 19, 2017 file photo, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange greets supporters outside the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno said on Tuesday, March 2, 2019, that he wants to reach an agreement for Assange to leave the Embassy in London as soon as possible, as long as his life is not in danger. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)

QUITO, Ecuador – A senior Ecuadorian official said no decision has been made to expel Julian Assange from the country's London embassy despite tweets from Wikileaks that sources had told it he could be kicked out within "hours to days."

A small group of protesters and supporters of Wikileaks' founder gathered Thursday outside the embassy in London where Assange has been holed up since August 2012. He has feared extradition to the U.S. since WikiLeaks published thousands of classified military and diplomatic cables.

Earlier, Wikileaks tweeted: "BREAKING: A high level source within the Ecuadorian state has told @WikiLeaks that Julian Assange will be expelled within "hours to days" using the #INAPapers offshore scandal as a pretext--and that it already has an agreement with the UK for his arrest."

Another tweet said it had received a secondary confirmation from another high-level source.

Ecuador's foreign ministry released a statement saying it "doesn't comment on rumors, theories or conjectures that don't have any documented backing."

Later, a top official said while Ecuadorian President Lenín Moreno was angered by the apparent hacking of his personal communications, he denied WikiLeaks' claim and said no decision had been taken to expel Assange from the Embassy. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss the matter.

On Tuesday, Moreno blamed WikiLeaks for recent allegations of offshore corruption that in appeared in local media outlets and the publication of family photos to social media.

Moreno accused WikiLeaks of intercepting phone calls and private conversations as well as "photos of my bedroom, what I eat, and how my wife and daughters and friends dance."

Moreno provided no evidence, but the speech reflected ongoing tension between Assange and his hosts at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

WikiLeaks in a statement called Moreno's charges "completely bogus," saying it reported on the accusations of corruption against the president only after Ecuador's legislature investigated the issue.

Assange's defense team suggested on Twitter that Moreno was trying to use the scandal to pressure the WikiLeaks founder.

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Goodman reported from Bogota, Colombia.