ABOVE: US Defence Secretary Robert Gates welcomed the Wikileaks founder's arrest, even though it was unrelated to the leaking of 250,000 diplomatic cables. Mr Gates said "This is good news. The international manhunt for Julian Assange is over".
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ABOVE: US Defence Secretary Robert Gates welcomed the Wikileaks founder's arrest, even though it was unrelated to the leaking of 250,000 diplomatic cables. Mr Gates said "This is good news. The international manhunt for Julian Assange is over". But American embarrassment may only be beginning. Mr Assange's lawyer noted, archly, that the site has so far only released 301 cables.
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange surrendered to police in London late last night New Zealand time.
He was denied bail and remanded in custody until December 14.
Mr Assange (39) was charged at City of Westminister magistrates on behalf of the Swedish authorities with of one count of unlawful coercion, two counts of sexual molestation and one count of rape, UK media reported.
Sweden has placed an extradition request, which Mr Assange's lawyer said he would fight.
A clutch of celebrities including war correspondent John Pilger and Jemimah Khan pledged to provide a surety, but the judge ruled Mr Assange a flight risk.
Although the charges were unrelated to Wikileaks publishing a portion of more than 250,000 US diplomatic cables it obtained, the US nonetheless welcomed his arrest.
"That sounds like good news to me," US defence secretary Robert Gates told NBC television. "The international manhunt for Julian Assange is over."
But the US government's embarrassment could be just beginning.
Mr Assange's lawyer, Mark Stephens, noted archly that Wikileaks has so far published only 301 of the quarter million cables.
Interpol launched an international hunt for Mr Assange after he failed to front to Swedish authorities for questioning about sex crime allegations, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Although the allegations are serious, they are perhaps not the most heinous on Interpol's most-wanted list. Regardless, the Wikileaks founder's international arrest warrant made it to the top of the international enforcement agency's home page.
Sweden has placed an extradition request, which Mr Assange said he would fight.
Mr Assange - an Australian citizen - said he went into hiding because he feared for his safety after Wikileaks published a portion of more than 250,000 US diplomatic cables.
Meanwhile, Visa, which supplied the online system through which people could donate to Wikileaks - the whistleblowing site's primary source of income - has suspended payments.
Visa said it was awaiting the outcome of an investigation into Wikileak's business practices.
The move came on the heels of authorities freezing Mr Assange's Swedish and Swiss bank accounts.
But as was the case when a trio of US companies withdrew domain name, design and web hosting services, Wikileaks has quickly established a workaround, with new donation options appearing on its site.
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