Stefan Mileschin

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been hiding from the UK police at Ecuador's London embassy for five months, has a lung condition that is getting worse.

Ambassador Ana Alban told reporters at Associated Press that Ecuador was "covering Assange's medical expenses" and arranging "regular medical check-ups".

Assange himself has said conflicting things about his condition. When he spoke to CNN, he said that he did not think his illness was important and he did not appear sick.

However, in another interview he said his health was "slowly deteriorating" in the embassy, and he had "a racking cough".

Ecuador granted Assange asylum but Britain has refused to grant him safe passage out of the country which has left him inside the embassy and unable to go to any hospital for serious treatment.

Last month, Ecuadoran Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino claimed Assange was losing weight and suffering vision problems.

http://news.techeye.net/internet/assange-getting-sicker