By JEANNE WHALEN
Swedish police said Saturday that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was "no longer wanted" for rape, reversing its position just hours after saying his arrest was being sought.
In an update on the Web site of the Swedish Prosecution Authority, the agency said that "chief prosector Eva Finné has come to the decision that Julian Assange is not suspected of rape."
Mr. Assange said in a posting on the WikiLeaks Twitter account in response to the initial allegation: "The charges are without basis and their issue at this moment is deeply disturbing."
WikiLeaks last month published 76,000 classified U.S. military documents about the war in Afghanistan. Mr. Assange, an Australian, has been in Sweden in recent days, where WikiLeaks has some infrastructure.
The Pentagon has sharply criticized Mr. Assange for publishing the documents, saying it could put the lives of solidiers and Afghan civilians at risk. Mr. Assange has said he planned to publish up to 15,000 more documents about the war soon. He defends the publications, saying greater transparency is needed about civilian casualties, U.S. military tactics and other issues.
In a statement posted on the WikiLeaks site, the organization said: "On Saturday 21st of August, we have been made aware of rape allegations made against Julian Assange, founder of this project and one of our spokespeople. We are deeply concerned about the seriousness of these allegations. We the people behind WikiLeaks think highly of Julian and and he has our full support. While Julian is focusing on his defenses and clearing his name, WikiLeaks will be continuing its regular operations."
In an earlier Twitter posting, WikiLeaks said it had been warned to expect "dirty tricks."
Write to Jeanne Whalen at jeanne.whalen@wsj.com
