Britain to Declare War on Ecuador.

The Ecuadorian government has apparently reached a decision on whether or not to grant political asylum to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. That decision is to be made public tomorrow (16/8/12). It is very likely to be a yes because it is a win win for the Ecuadorian government. If Barack Obama wins a second term in November the Wikileaks issue can no long be used by the Brits and the Swedes to try and force him out of office so will just go cold. If Mitt Romney wins in November having possession of Assange it will place Ecuador very close to the top of the list of people that the new administration will have to talk to.

Britain however is absolutely furious about having been cut out of the equation. So furious in fact that they've told the Ecuadorian government that they will violate a host of international treaties and conventions by sending the British police into the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to effectively kidnap Assange. Of course if this were to happen Ecuador may well treat this invasion of their Sovereign territory in much the same way they would treat any other invasion force - shoot to kill. However if political asylum is granted the difficult part of the transfer will be from the Embassy building into an Embassy vehicle so it would be useful if Assange supporters and anti-war activists were to stage a solidarity demonstration outside the Embassy.

21:50 on 15/8/12.

Edited at around 22:35 on 15/8/12 to add;

In threatening to enter the Ecuadorian Embassy Britain is claiming it has authority under Section 1, Paragraph 3(b) of the Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act 1987 which gives the Secretary of State the power to withdraw permission for a premises to be used as a consular post (Embassy). However this power can only be used in circumstances that are compatible with international law. If Assange is granted political asylum on the groups political opinions he would be bound by the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees which specifically forbids refoulment - the act of returning a refugee to their oppressor. Therefore if Britain were to attempt to use the Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act in this case it would be totally unlawful.


Edited again at around 09:25 on 16/8/12 to add;

The decision on the Assange asylum application under the 1951 UN Convention is expected at 12:00 (13:00 London time). I will still need to check but I am 99.9% sure that the bounds of Ecuador's Embassy stretch all the way to the pavement and British police are only allowed on the building's steps with the permission of the Ecuadorian government. Therefore if I was arranging the transfer of Assange out of the building I would simply order the British police off of the steps and drive a diplomatic vehicle up onto the pavement. This would allow Assange to step from one part of Ecuadorian territory into another part of Ecuadorian territory without entering the jurisdiction of the British police. The diplomatic vehicle of course might get a parking ticket but then diplomatic vehicles don't pay parking tickets.

edited again at around 12:25 on 16/8/12:

ecuador's foreign minister is really dragging it out but;

asylum granted!