WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is still waiting to find out whether his request for political asylum in Ecuador will be accepted, after spending a third night at the country's embassy in London.
In a telephone interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) from inside the embassy on Thursday, Mr Assange said he did not know when the decision would be made.
Mr Assange went to the embassy in Knightsbridge on Tuesday to seek diplomatic asylum to prevent him from being extradited to Sweden to face allegations of sex crimes, which he denies.
He said he was not prepared to go to Sweden because of the conditions he believes he would be held in.
He told ABC's Radio National programme that he had decided against going to the Australian embassy after Australian Attorney-General Nicola Roxon refused "reasonable requests" by his lawyer to be involved or intervene in his planned extradition to Sweden.
"We had heard that the Ecuadorians were sympathetic in relation to my struggles and the struggles of the organisation with the United States, and the ability to exercise that option was at an effective end," he said
Ecuador's president Rafael Correa said his country defended the right to live, and that authorities were analysing whether Mr Assange faced a danger to his life if he were to be extradited before they made a decision on his asylum.
"We are looking very seriously and responsibly at the asylum request of Mr Julian Assange," Mr Correa said.
"So until we complete the analysis of this request we cannot pronounce officially."
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office confirmed in a statement that he was "beyond the reach of the police" while he remains in the embassy building.
Mr Assange's move to claim asylum is the latest twist in a long running legal battle. He is set to be extradited to Sweden, where he faces accusations of raping a woman and sexually molesting and coercing another in Stockholm in August 2010 while on a visit to give a lecture.
He says the sex was consensual and the allegations against him are politically motivated.
Assange's WikiLeaks website has published a mass of leaked diplomatic cables that embarrassed several governments and international businesses.
