Little Room for Compromise on Julian Assange

When first Julian Assange sought sanctuary in Ecuador's embassy in London two months ago, he had jumped bail and was delaying the day when he might be extradited to Sweden to face questioning over serious sexual assault accusations.

At the time the government in Quito was careful to suggest it did not want to spoil relations with Britain. The Foreign Office in London, too, insisted it was looking for a negotiated way out of the log-jam.