Swedish court asked to hold Assange

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Swedish authorities on Monday issued a request for a detention order against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is now jailed in Britain, a Swedish prosecutor said.

Prosecutor Eva-Marie Persson says if the Swedish court decided to detain Assange “on probable cause suspected for rape … I will issue a European Arrest Warrant.”

The development sets up a possible future tug-of-war between Sweden and the United States over any extradition of Assange from Britain.

Assange was evicted last month from the Ecuadorian Embassy where he had been holed up in political asylum since 2012. He was then immediately arrested by British police on April 11 and is currently serving a 50-week sentence in Britain for jumping bail in 2012.

The Australian also faces a U.S. extradition warrant over allegations he conspired to hack into a Pentagon computer.

Persson said Monday that British authorities will decide any conflict between a European arrest warrant and U.S. extradition request for Assange.

On May 13, Swedish prosecutors reopened a preliminary investigation against Assange, who visited Sweden in 2010, after two Swedish women said they were the victims of sex crimes committed by Assange.