The charge is connected to the case of former U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, according to the release. The U.S. government alleged that Assange helped Manning crack a password to access sensitive files in 2010.
RELATED: Chelsea Manning jailed for refusing to testify on Wikileaks
Assange's attorney said he had been arrested on U.S. extradition request as well as for breaching UK bail conditions. His legal team said later Thursday that he would fight extradition to the U.S.
Ecuador's president says his government withdrew asylum status for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange almost seven years after he sought refuge in Ecuador's embassy in London, citing "repeated violations of international conventions and daily-life protocols."
Lenin Moreno announced the "sovereign decision" in a statement accompanied by a video on Twitter on Thursday.
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Assange hasn't left the embassy since August 2012 for fear that if he steps off Ecuador's diplomatic soil he would be arrested and extradited to the U.S. for publishing thousands of classified military and diplomatic cables through WikiLeaks.
London police arrested Assange at the embassy Thursday on a court warrant issued in 2012, when he failed to surrender to the court.
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British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt thanked Moreno for breaking the impasse, saying on Twitter that Assange "is no hero and no one is above the law."
Since Assange started the anti-secrecy website in 2006, Wikileaks has received international attention for releasing sensitive, and often classified, information.
The Associated Press and ABC News contributed to this report.