Ecuador has guaranteed political asylum to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for "as long as necessary," one day after he lost an appeal against a Swedish warrant for his arrest.
Assange, who has been holed up in the Ecuador embassy in London for two years to avoid extradition, is wanted for questioning over alleged sex crimes in Sweden.
On Thursday he lost his claim that the detention order be set aside.
Ecuador reiterated, "that the asylum granted to Julian Assange is valid, and reaffirms its intention to continue protecting him as long as necessary, until he is in a safe place," the foreign affairs ministry said in a statement.
Swedish prosecutors want to question Assange over accusations of rape and sexual molestation brought against him by two women while he was on a visit to Sweden in 2010.
He denies the claims.
Assange had called on Swedish prosecutors to travel to London to question him or to do so by video link, but the Swedish appeal court rejected the request.
"Ecuador maintains its proposal for Swedish officials to question Julian Assange in its embassy in London or use videoconferencing means," the foreign affairs ministry reiterated.
Assange fears extradition to Sweden could lead to him being transferred to the United States to face trial over WikiLeaks' publication of classified US military and diplomatic documents.
