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By Alexandra Valencia
QUITO (Reuters) – WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said on Monday that Ecuador is seeking to end his asylum in the United States, citing new rules governing its residence at the Andean nation's diplomatic mission as evidence.
Assange spoke from the embassy via teleconference at the first hearing in Quito of his lawsuit challenging the Ecuadorean government requires him to pay for medical bills, calls and clean up after his pet cat.
He took refuge in the embassy six years ago to avoid extradition to Sweden in a sexual assault case that was later dropped. He remains there to be avoided by the United States of America, which he said he would have achieved in Washington.
During the hearing, Assange said the new rules were a sign Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno had already been decided on the issue.
The South American country's top government attorney, Iñigo Salvador, did not directly respond to Assange's allegations. Last week, Salvador told reporters Assange was welcome to stay in the embassy with the new rules. He also said the United Kingdom in August had assured Assange would not be extradited if he left the embassy.
Ecuadorean officials have in the past said he is welcome to stay as long as he follows the embassy rules.
Staff had complained of Assange riding a skateboard in the halls of the embassy, playing soccer on the grounds and behaving aggressively with personal security.
Ecuador's government is also making comments on the subject of political commentary in other countries, including publishing opinions about the Catalonia separatist movement in Spain.
The new set of rules are meant to address these concerns, Salvador said.
Ecuador's Foreign Minister Jose Valencia told Reuters last week that the government was "frustrated" by the lawsuit and that it would no longer intervene with British authorities on Assange's behalf.
U.S. federal prosecutors in Alexandria, Virginia, have maintained a long-running grand jury investigation into WikiLeaks, which according to one source includes a probe from the Central Intelligence Agency documents to the website. (Https://reut.rs/2z8JdlY)
(Reporting by Alexandria Valencia, Writing by Luc Cohen, Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Lisa Shumaker)
