WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been holed up at Ecuador's London embassy for five months, has a lung condition that could get worse, the South American country's envoy to Britain said Wednesday.
"He has a chronic lung condition that could worsen at any time," Ambassador Ana Alban told reporters ahead of an annual gathering of Ecuador's diplomatic corps with President Rafael Correa in Quito.
Wikileak's founder Julian Assange looks on at the media and his supporters from the balcony of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London on Aug 19, 2012. (AFP Photo)
Ecuador "is covering his medical expenses" and arranging "regular medical checkups," Alban said, noting that Assange, 41, has been living "in a confined space" since seeking asylum 162 days ago to avoid extradition to Sweden.
She did not give further details on his health.
A spokesman for WikiLeaks in London, Kristinn Hrafnsson, declined comment on Assange's health when contacted by AFP.
WikiLeaks enraged Washington in 2010 by leaking hundreds of thousands of classified US documents on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and embarrassing diplomatic cables from US embassies around the world.
Assange was arrested that same year.
He denies the allegations of rape and sexual assault and claims that if he is extradited to Sweden, he could be passed on to the United States and prosecuted, facing a long prison term or even the death sentence.
Ecuador granted Assange asylum on August 16, but Britain has refused to grant him safe passage out of the country -- leaving the two governments in diplomatic deadlock and Assange stuck inside the embassy.