WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange denies rape allegations

Julian Assange, the secretive founder of the whistle-blowing WikiLeaks website, has today denied allegations of rape and sexual molestation and insisted he has never had non-consensual sex.

The 39-year-old Australian – whose website was behind the biggest leak of US military documents in history – was the subject of a Swedish arrest warrant on Friday after separate complaints made by two women.

But prosecutors withdrew the warrant to arrest him on suspicion of rape within 24 hours, saying the accusations against him lacked substance.

In a brief statement, the chief prosecutor, Eva Finne, said: "I don't think there is reason to suspect that he has committed rape".

Karin Rosander, from the Swedish Prosecution Authority, said Assange, believed to be in Sweden, remained suspected of molestation – a less serious charge that would not lead to an arrest warrant.

"The prosecutor hasn't made a decision [on that count]. The investigation continues," she said.

Assange responded to news of the warrant through WikiLeaks' Twitter page, saying: "The charges are without basis and their issue at this moment is deeply disturbing."

The claims come as WikiLeaks prepares to release a new batch of 15,000 classified US documents related to the Afghanistan war. The Pentagon has claimed the documents could endanger US soldiers and their Afghan helpers.

Assange has been in Sweden seeking international legal protection for his website under Swedish law after WikiLeaks previously published 90,000 leaked documents about US military activities in Afghanistan covering from 2004-2010.

The Pentagon has demanded that WikiLeaks returns all the leaked documents and removes them from the internet.

Assange's supporters claim he is the victim of a smear campaign.

The Swedish Aftonbladet newspaper quoted him as saying he had not had sex with anyone in a way that wasn't consensual.

The allegations had damaged the site because "WikiLeaks' enemies will keep trumpeting things even after they have been denied", he was quoted as saying.

He said he did not know the reasons behind the allegations but added that he had "been warned that, for example, the Pentagon plans to use dirty tricks to spoil things for [WikiLeaks]".

At the time of the warrant, police said Assange was wanted for raping a woman in Stockholm last weekend and sexually assaulting another woman in the town of Enkoping, 40 miles from the capital, three days later.