Swedish court upholds Julian Assange's arrest warrant

A Swedish appeal court has upheld an arrest warrant against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, wanted for questioning over sexual assault claims.

The Court of Appeal refuse  Assange's attempt to have a detention order, issued in 2010, revoked.

Two women in Sweden are accusing Assange, 43, of sexual assault.

Assange, who denies the allegations, has sought refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy in London to avoid extradition.

If he goes to Sweden, he fears he could be extradited to the US to face charges of leaking government documents.

Assange's lawyers argued that the arrest warrant should be repealed because it could not be enforced while he was in the Ecuadorean embassy.

Wikileaks has published thousands of secret documents, which have caused intense embarrassment for the US and lifted the lid on diplomatic relations.