America’s Central Intelligence Agency planned to kidnap and even kill WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange while he was staying in the Ecuador embassy in 2017, media reports have said.
The report by Yahoo News claimed former President Trump’s ex-CIA director Mike Pompeo was set to take “aggressive action” against Assange as plans were made to abduct him.
News18 could not independently confirm any of the reports.
The US administration was “alarmed” at reports which said Russian intelligence was ready to secretly take give asylum to Assange.
US officials had allegedly prepared various scenarios, including a potential street battle in London with Russian agents which included crashing a car into the Russian vehicle and even shooting tires of a Russian plane which they believed would transport Assange to Moscow.
In another startling revelation, the report said US officials had asked British agents to open fire if it was required, and that they had agreed.
The report quoted ex-officials who said that the US has been covertly monitoring the movement of various WikiLeaks personnel.
The plan was apparently shelved over a potential international incident that would have harmed America’s standing.
In August, lawyers belonging to the US government had criticised the British judge’s decision to block Assange’s extradition. The British judge had ruled Assange was at risk of suicide and had refused to grant permission for him to be extradited to the US.
Assange has now been hauled in Belmarsh prison in the UK. The controversial WikiLeaks founder is wanted in 18 charges in the US relating to the 2010 release of US secret files which detailed key aspects of military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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