Julian Assange has been described as a nuisance by the president of Ecuador, which has shielded the Wikileaks founder in its London embassy for five years.
Lenín Moreno, who took office last year, said in a TV interview that Mr Assange was a problem he had “inherited” from his predecessor, Rafael Correa. He added: “We hope quickly to have a positive solution to this issue, which really is more than a nuisance for us.”
This month Ecuador granted Mr Assange citizenship and named him as an accredited diplomat in the embassy, hoping that it would enable him to leave the building in Knightsbridge without being arrested. Britain said that it would refuse to recognise Mr Assange as a diplomat.
“This would have been a good result, unfortunately, things did not turn out as the foreign ministry planned and so the problem still exists,” Mr Moreno said.
Mr Assange, 46, an Australian, entered the embassy to avoid being extradited to Sweden for alleged sex crimes, which he denies, and the charges have since been dropped. However, he breached his bail terms in Britain by seeking protection in the embassy, where he has been living in a room converted into his lodgings since 2012.
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Last year Mr Moreno reprimanded him after he expressed support for Catalonian independence, which drew complaints to Ecuador from Spain. He was also criticised by the Ecuadorian government for publishing hacked emails from the campaign team of Hillary Clinton in the US election.
A source told The Times last week that employees at the embassy were openly complaining about Mr Assange’s extended stay, including his apparent reluctance to shower regularly. Mr Assange has said that he fears being extradited to the US, where he argues he could face torture and extended detention. Washington has never confirmed or denied that an extradition request exists, but the justice department has indicated that it would seek his arrest for publishing thousands of classified military and diplomatic documents on Wikileaks.
In the interview, Mr Moreno repeated that Mr Assange had agreed not to interfere in the politics of Ecuador or “other nations” and that officials were seeking mediation from “important people” to resolve the problem.
