TYB
Revealed: The UK government campaign to force Julian Assange from the Ecuadorian embassy
The UK government paid ÂŁ8,330 in November 2018 to bring Ecuador’s defence minister Oswaldo JarrĂn to Britain, two months before the planned seizure of Julian Assange from the Ecuadorian embassy in London, it can be revealed.
It is unusual for foreign ministers to have their trips to the UK paid by the British government, and the week-long visit came after prime minister Theresa May had been told to “butter up” Ecuador’s president, LenĂn Moreno, in order to get Assange expelled from the embassy.
The new information comes from UK Foreign Office documents released to Declassified, as well as the recently published diaries of former foreign office minister, Sir Alan Duncan, who was a key player in the Assange negotiations.
The documents note that “the main objective” of the November 2018 visit was JarrĂn’s “participation” at an annual national counter-terrorism exercise that rehearses the government’s response to a major terrorist attack.
The exercise is organised by the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism, a part of the Home Office which “oversees the Security Service [MI5] and police counter-terrorism operations in the UK”.
It is unclear why Ecuador’s defence minister was chosen to attend a counter-terrorism exercise as the South American nation is not a target of terrorist groups.
The documents note that “one of the main meetings” was with then armed forces minister Mark Lancaster, after which the Ministry of Defence reported the two countries were “strengthening our ties”.
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-04-28-revealed-the-uk-government-campaign-to-force-julian-assange-from-the-ecuadorian-embassy/