WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's poor hygiene sparks complaints at Ecuador Embassy, report says

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is seen on the balcony of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. (Reuters)

The whiff of controversy has long surrounded WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, but, according to a new report, he just reeks.

Assange's lack of cleanliness was reportedly one of the reasons behind Ecuador's recent attempts to extricate him from his five-year standoff in its embassy in London, the International Business Times reported.

“It seems he doesn’t wash properly,” a highly placed source told the news outlet. The issue prompted repeated complaints from staff at the UK embassy, according to the report.

The WikiLeaks founder has been holed up at the embassy in Knightsbridge since 2012 and was recently granted Ecuadorean citizenship.

The IBT report emerged after Britain rejected Ecuador's application to assign the 46-year-old diplomatic status.

Others have complained of Assange’s questionable hygiene practices in the past.

“Julian ate everything with his hands and he always wiped his fingers on his pants. I have never seen pants as greasy as his in my whole life,” one of his closest aides, Daniel Domscheit-Berg, told IBT.

Jérémie Zimmermann, a friend and former colleague, wrote in 2012 that “unless the people around him force him to shower, he might not change his clothes for days.”

U.S. officials told IBT that arresting Assange remains a priority, but would not confirm whether the government would request his extradition should he be arrested in the U.K.