The founder of the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, has been arrested by the Metropolitan Police in London on sexual assault charges, the BBC said.
Last week, Swedish prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for the 39-year-old Australian on suspicion of committing sexual assaults including rape. Assange denies the allegations.
Police said Assange was arrested at 09:30 a.m. GMT on Tuesday by appointment at a London police station on a European Arrest Warrant.
"He is accused by the Swedish authorities of one count of unlawful coercion, two counts of sexual molestation and one count of rape, all alleged to have been committed in August 2010," Scotland Yard said in a statement.
He is due to appear before the City of Westminster Magistrates' Court later today.
WikiLeaks is under increasing international pressure over the release of U.S. diplomatic cables.
MOSCOW, December 7 (RIA Novosti)
