EPA

Islamic cleric Abu Hamza al- Masri is seen in a courtroom sketch in front of a U.S. federal court judge in lower Manhattan on Saturday.

An extremist preacher and four other men accused of terrorism by the U.S. government arrived in New York overnight after they lost a years-long battle to remain in the United Kingdom. All appeared in federal courts within several hours of arriving.

The preacher, Abu Hamza al-Masri, is charged in connection with the abduction of 16 people, including two American tourists, in Yemen in 1998; conspiring to set up a terrorist training camp in Bly, Ore., in 1999; and supporting violent jihad in Afghanistan in 2000 and 2001.

In a final appeal to avert extradition, lawyers for the 54-year-old argued he could not travel because of poor health. The Egyptian-born British citizen has one eye and hooks in place of hands he claims to have lost fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan. Lawyers said he suffers from depression, chronic sleep deprivation, diabetes and other ailments.

Hamza was taken to a lockup next to the federal courthouse in lower Manhattan. He later appeared in court for the first time Saturday wearing a short-sleeved blue prison shirt but without his prosthetic hooks, which he complained had been taken away as he was being transported from London overnight.

His court-appointed lawyer, Sabrina Shroff, asked that his prosthetics be immediately returned "so he can use his arms," The Associated Press reported.

In the 1990s, the fiery anti-American preacher turned London's Finsbury Park Mosque into a training ground for extremist Islamists, attracting men including Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui and "shoe bomber" Richard Reid.

Hamza, indicted under the name Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, entered no plea, saying only "I do" when asked by U.S. Magistrate Judge Frank Maas whether he swears that his financial affidavit used to determine is he qualifies for a court-appointed lawyer was correct.

Separately, Egyptian Adel Abdel Bary, 52 and Saudi Khaled al Fawwaz, 50, are charged with conspiring with al-Qaida to kill Americans and attack U.S. interests abroad.

Bary is also charged with murder, conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction and other offenses in connection with the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed 224 people and injured thousands more.

Al-Fawwaz and Bary appeared in a New York court and pleaded not guilty Saturday afternoon, AP reported.

Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, called the extradition "a watershed moment in our nation's efforts to eradicate terrorism."

"As is charged, these are men who were at the nerve centers of al-Qaida's acts of terror, and they caused blood to be shed, lives to be lost, and families to be shattered," Bharara said, The extradition "makes good on a promise to the American people to use every available diplomatic, legal, and administrative tool to pursue and prosecute charged terrorists no matter how long it takes." 

Two others — Syed Talha Ahsan, 33, and Babar Ahmad, 38 — pleaded not guilty in a federal court in New Haven, Conn., just hours after their arrival in America, AP said.

EPA

Terror suspects Khaled al Fawwaz, center, and Adel Abdel Bary are seen in this courtroom sketch during an appearance in Manhattan Federal Court on Saturday.

Profiles of terror suspects extradited from UK to face trials

They were jailed until trial, and their lawyers declined to comment. Authorities say the men are charged in Connecticut because an Internet service provider there was used to run websites that sought to raise cash, recruit fighters and seek equipment for terrorists, including al-Qaida members.

The five men have been battling extradition for between eight and 14 years. On Friday, Britain's High Court ruled that the men had no more grounds for appeal and could be sent to the U.S. immediately.

British Prime Minister David Cameron hailed the deportation.  

"Like the rest of the public I'm sick to the back teeth of people who come here, threaten our country, who stay at vast expense to the taxpayer and we can't get rid of them," he said, according to The Guardian.

"I'm delighted on this occasion we've managed to send this person off to a country where he will face justice."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Here are thumbnail sketches of the five men who were being extradited Friday from the U.K. to the U.S., where they will stand trial on terror-related charges in federal district courts in Manhattan and Hartford, Conn. Abu Hamza al Masri, Khalid al Fawwaz and Adel Abdel Bari will be tried in New York and Babar Ahmad and Syed Tahla Ahsan will be tried in Hartford.

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Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al Masri, shown leading prayers at the Finsbury Park Mosque in north London pm Feb. 7, 2003.

Abu Hamza al Masri, an Egyptian-born cleric, will face 11 counts of criminal conduct related to the taking of 16 hostages in Yemen in 1998, advocating violent jihad in Afghanistan in 2001 and conspiring to establish a jihad training camp in Bly, Ore., between June 2000 and December 2001. Masri was formerly the imam of London’s Finsbury Park Mosque, where shoe bomber Richard Reid worshiped and was recruited. Following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks against the U.S., Masri was quoted as saying: "Many people will be happy, jumping up and down at this moment." In 2003, he famously addressed a rally in central London called by the Islamic al-Muhajiroun, where members spoke of their support for Islamist goals like the creation of an Islamic caliphate and upending the Middle Eastern regimes. Masri lost both hands and an eye in Afghanistan, either building a bomb or in a de-mining operation.

Khalid al Fawwaz has been under indictment in the United States since 1998, accused of conspiracy in planning the August 1998 bombing of two U.S. embassies in east Africa. He has been in U.K. jails since Sept. 28, 1998, fighting his extradition in both U.K. and EU courts.  Al-Fawwaz, a Saudi and a civil engineer, is 50 years old. He moved from Riyadh to London in 1994. According to documents placed in the court record by the FBI, he was then appointed by al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden as the first head of the terrorist group’s media organ, the Advice and Reform Committee. In 1996, as bin Laden delegated some of his leadership responsibilities to al-Fawwaz, the FBI reported.  By 1998, the FBI claimed in affidavits that he was a pivotal figure in planning the attacks on the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, which killed more than 200 people.

Related story

UK court rules Islamist cleric can be extradited to US to face terror charges

Abel Abdel Bari is an Egyptian who -- like al Fawwaz and other alleged conspirators (now dead) -- was indicted in the embassy bombings. He was arrested in London in July 20, 1999, and charged with conspiring with bin Laden in planning the twin attacks on Aug. 7, 1998, the eighth anniversary of the arrival of American forces in Saudi Arabia. Bari reportedly issued a statement following the bombings claiming responsibility.

The two remaining defendants Babar Ahmad and Syed Tahla Ahsan, both British, are accused of involvement with the pro-terror website Azzam.com before their arrests by their government. They have been held in custody since Aug. 5, 2004. 

Robert Windrem is a senior investigative producer for NBC News.

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LONDON -- The radical Islamist cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri on Friday lost his final appeal against extradition from Britain to the United States, where he is wanted on charges of supporting al-Qaida and aiding a fatal kidnapping in Yemen.

Profiles of terror suspects being sent from UK to face US trials

Judges at the High Court in London dismissed his request for more medical tests that his lawyers said would prove he was unfit to be extradited, clearing the way for a handover.

The decision caps a long legal battle, which saw the cleric launch a fresh appeal in Britain last week after the European Court of Human Rights rejected his earlier bid to avoid being sent to the United States.

Cleric al-Masri loses bid to avoid extradition to US on terror charges

Britain's Home Office, or interior ministry, has said it will hand over al-Masri and four other suspects "as quickly as possible."

There was controversy last month after a BBC journalist revealed the Britain's Queen Elizabeth had privately raised concerns several years ago about why al-Masri had not been arrested. The BBC later apologized for the "breach of confidence."

If convicted, the Egyptian-born al-Masri, 54, could face a sentence of more than 100 years in an ultra-secure "Supermax" prison.

Royal censorship? BBC says 'sorry' for daring to report UK queen's comments

He had argued such treatment would contravene Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits inhumane and degrading treatment.

Al-Masri, who has one eye and a metal hook for a hand, is one of the most radical Islamists in Britain, a country he has attacked for its support of U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He has also praised the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and was once a preacher at a North London mosque but was later convicted of inciting murder and racial hatred.

Al-Masri was indicted in 2004 by a federal grand jury in New York, accused of providing material support to al-Qaida and of involvement in a hostage-taking in Yemen in 1998 in which four hostages -- three Britons and one Australian -- were killed.

He was also accused of providing material support to al-Qaida by trying to set up a training camp for fighters in Oregon and of trying to organize support for the Taliban in Afghanistan.

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Kerim Okten / EPA

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange addresses the media and supporters while British policemen stand outside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, Sunday.

Updated at 10:14 a.m. ET: LONDON -- From a second-floor window of his refuge at the Ecuadorean embassy, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Sunday called on President Obama to release Bradley Manning, the United States intelligence analyst accused of leaking masses of confidential information.

In his  first public appearance in two months, the former hacker thanked his supporters gathered outside the London embassy and appealed to the U.S. not to prosecute WikiLeaks staff and supporters.

"I call on President Obama to do the right thing - renounce the witch-hunt against Wikileaks," he said in a provocative address in which he appeared to invoke the support of dozens of Latin American countries.

The U.S. administration’s “war on whistleblowers must end,” he said.

Ecuador on Thursday granted political asylum to the former computer hacker who incensed the United States and its allies by using his WikiLeaks website to leak hundreds of thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic and military cables in 2010.

Assange paid tribute to Manning, who is the suspected source of those leaks and faces 22 criminal charges which, if he is convicted, could land him in jail for life.

"If Bradley Manning did as he is accused, he is a hero and one of the world's foremost political prisoners," Assange said.

Investigators have determined that Manning allegedly unlawfully downloaded tens of thousands of documents onto his own computer and passed them to an unauthorized person, but have not been able to make a link between those files and Assange.

Assange spoke from a balcony at the embassy because Britain has made it clear it will arrest him the moment he steps out of the property.

The west London embassy is in a building shared with other tenants and has no vehicular access except via the street, meaning Assange could not even appear in the entrance hall without risking immediate arrest.

UK refuses WikiLeaks' Assange safe passage to Ecuador

With a police helicopter hovering overhead and protestors using megaphones, the international legal row over Assange's future has become a spectacle in what is an upscale area of London, just a few meters away from department store, Harrods.

The former hacker is wanted in Sweden for questioning regarding allegations of rape and sexual assault and Britain has said he will not be granted safe passage out of his Ecuadorean embassy refuge, which enjoys diplomatic status.

Baltasar Garzon, a Spanish jurist and prominent human rights investigator who heads Assange's legal team, was also expected to speak in a separate address outside the building ahead of Assange's appearance.

A group of about 20 Assange supporters, many of whom have slept on sheets of cardboard outside the building since Wednesday, have decorated barriers with messages of support for Assange.

Army is pressed on why it kept trusting Manning

Assange's attempt to avoid extradition has provoked a diplomatic tussle between Britain and Ecuador, which said London had threatened to raid its embassy and cast the dispute as an arrogant European power treating a Latin American nation like a colony. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Updated at 6:33 p.m. ET: LONDON -- Britain said it would not allow Julian Assange safe passage to leave the country Thursday, hours after the WikiLeaks founder was granted asylum by Ecuador amid an escalating diplomatic crisis.  

U.K. Foreign Minister William Hague said he was determined to see Assange extradited to Sweden to face sex assault claims but added there were no plans to storm Ecuador's London embassy, meaning the current standoff could last indefinitely.

"We will not allow Mr. Assange safe passage out of the United Kingdom nor is there any legal basis for us to do so," Hague said during a press conference. "The United Kingdom does not accept the principle of diplomatic asylum."

Britain earlier said it might revoke the diplomatic status of the embassy, where the Australian has been holed up since June 19 after he exhausted all appeals after a 17-month legal battle. 

Assange, who incensed American government officials by publishing thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic cables and Iraq and Afghan war dispatches in 2010, is wanted for questioning in Sweden over assault and rape claims, which he denies.

Ecuador: UK threatened to break WikiLeaks' Assange out of embassy

Hague insisted that the U.K.'s actions had anything to do with Assange's or WikiLeak's work.

Facundo Arrizabalaga / EPA

Police officers arrest a supporter of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange on Thursday outside the Ecuadorean Embassy in London.

"It's important to understand that this is not about Mr. Assange's activities at WikiLeaks, or the attitude of the United States of America," he said.  "He is wanted in Sweden to answer allegations of serious sexual offenses."

Ricardo Patino, the Ecuadorean foreign minister, earlier told a news conference in Quito it was upholding international law by granting asylum. He expressed fury at Britain’s earlier threat to arrest Assange, saying it was a direct challenge to the Ecuador’s sovereignty.

Martin Alipaz / EPA file

A composite file photo of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, left, and Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, right.

Patino said there was a risk Assange would be taken to the United States where he "would not have a fair trial, he could be judged by special or military courts, and it is not unlikely to believe he would be treated in a cruel and degrading way, that he would receive a life sentence or death penalty, with which his human rights would not be respected."

A version of Patino’s statement was posted online by Ecuador's foreign ministry (in Spanish).

Sweden immediately summoned Ecuador's ambassador in Stockholm. "We want to tell them that it's [unacceptable] that Ecuador is trying to stop the Swedish judicial process," foreign ministry spokesman Anders Jorle said.

Jorle also said Assange was wanted in Sweden to answer allegations of "serious sexual offenses." The extradition had nothing to do with the work of WikiLeaks or with a desire by U.S. authorities to try him for publishing diplomatic secrets, he added.

Assange's recognition as a political refugee by Ecuador's leftist government was a big symbolic victory for the ex-hacker, but it did little to answer the question: 'How will he ever leave the embassy?'

"We're at something of an impasse," extradition lawyer Rebecca Niblock said shortly after the news broke. "The U.K. government will arrest Julian Assange as soon as he sets foot outside theembassy but it's very hard as well to see the Ecuadorean government changing their position."

PhotoBlog: More images from the scene as protesters scuffle with London police

She said there was practically no precedent for the situation, invoking the case of a Hungarian cardinal Jozsef Mindszenty, who camped out at the U.S. Embassy in Budapest from 1956 to 1971.  "One can't see Mr. Assange doing the same thing," she told BBC television. "One side will have to back down eventually."

Assange’s friend Vaughan Smith, whose country manor estate Assange stayed at while under house arrest, said Assange feels he is being "crucified."

“He genuinely believes that. I know him well. He's not a rapist. He stayed in my home with my family and none of us felt that there was anything improper about his behavior," Smith said, according to ITN.

Assange will give a statement in front of Ecuador's embassy in London on Sunday, a spokesman said on Thursday, although it was unclear if the WikiLeaks founder would risk arrest by appearing in person outside the building. 

"Julian Assange will give a live statement in front of the Ecuadorian embassy, Sunday, 2 p.m. (9 a.m. EDT)," WikiLeaks said in a message on Twitter. "It will be his first public appearance since March." 

WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson declined to elaborate and would not say if the appearance would be at an embassy window or on the pavement.

Outside the embassy on Thursday, protesters chanting slogans in support of Assange tussled with police.

A Reuters reporter saw at least three protesters being dragged away by police as the crowd shouted: "You are trying to start a war with Ecuador." About 20 officers were outside the embassy trying to push away the crowd of about 15 supporters.

'Colonial times are over'
London had warned Ecuador in writing earlier in the day that a 1987 British law permits it to revoke the diplomatic status of a building if the foreign power occupying it "ceases to use land for the purposes of its mission or exclusively for the purposes of a consular post."

 Quito bristled at the threat.

"We want to be very clear, we're not a British colony. The colonial times are over," Patino said in an angry statement after a meeting with President Rafael Correa.

Ecuador president: I've not yet decided on asylum for Assange

"The move announced in the official British statement, if it happens, would be interpreted by Ecuador as an unfriendly, hostile and intolerable act, as well as an attack on our sovereignty, which would force us to respond in the strongest diplomatic way," he told reporters.

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Ecuador, whose government is part of a left-leaning bloc of nations in South America, called for meetings of regional foreign ministers and the hemispheric Organization of American States to rally support in its complaint against Britain.

British officials have said they will arrest him the moment he steps foot outside the embassy, but until Thursday they had not previously suggested publicly that they might strip the embassy of its diplomatic inviolability.

NBC News partner ITV News's coverage of Assange: 'Not going near a police station soon'

In a statement, WikiLeaks accused Britain of trying to bully Ecuador into denying Assange asylum.

"A threat of this nature is a hostile and extreme act, which is not proportionate to the circumstances, and an unprecedented assault on the rights of asylum seekers worldwide," it said Wednesday.

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland refrained from commenting on Ecuador's decision to grant Assange asylum. "This is an issue between the Ecuadorans, the Brits, the Swedes," Nuland said.  She added, "with regard to this particular issue, it is an issue among the countries involved and we're not planning to interject ourselves."

NBC News' staff, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Neil Hall / Reuters

A police officer stands guard outside Ecuador's Embassy in London where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has taken refuge on June 22.

LONDON - Julian Assange will not leave his embassy refuge on Friday to enter a British police station as part of his extradition process to be questioned in Sweden about sex-crime allegations, a lawyer for the WikiLeaks founder said.

Assange, 40, has been holed-up in Ecuador's embassy in London since he made a surprise application for political asylum last week.

In a statement in front of the embassy, Assange's lawyer Susan Benn confirmed he would not comply with the police request to surrender himself and would remain in the embassy while evidence for his application for his political asylum is processed.

NBC News partner ITV News's coverage of Assange: 'Not going near a police station soon'

She said there is a "legal process in place which would involve Julian being taken to the U.S." if he is extradited to Sweden to answer rape allegations. It is "only a matter of time" before the U.S. attempts to extradite Mr Assange," Benn added.

Assange risks being arrested the moment he steps outside the red-brick building after breaching bail terms, keeping both his supporters and police puzzled as to what he might do next.

On Thursday, British police summoned Assange to a London police station, demanding he leave the embassy.

But Assange later told BBC television in a telephone interview: "Our advice is that asylum law both internationally and domestically in the UK takes precedence to extradition law, so the answer is almost certainly not."

UK police demand Assange leave Ecuador embassy

Police said they had formally "served a surrender notice upon a 40-year-old man that requires him to attend a police station at date and time of our choosing."

"He remains in breach of his bail conditions, failing to surrender would be a further breach of conditions and he is liable to arrest," the police statement added.

The statement, in line with British policy, did not name the person but media quoted sources identifying him as Assange.

WikiLeaks' Assange says Ecuador 'quite supportive'

The BBC reported the extradition unit delivered a note to Assange and the Ecuadorean embassy. The embassy declined to comment. 

Assange denies any wrongdoing in Sweden and says he fears that if extradited there he could be sent on to the United States, where he could face criminal charges punishable by death.

Assange enraged Washington in 2010 when his WikiLeaks website published secret U.S. diplomatic cables.

Easily recognisable by his white-yellow hair, and known for his unpredictable behaviour, Assange caused a media storm in Britain with his asylum bid. Ecuador's ambassador has in the meantime flown home to discuss whether to grant him asylum but the decision has yet to be made.

By diplomatic convention, police cannot enter the embassy without authorisation from Ecuador. But even if Quito granted him asylum, he has no way of travelling to Ecuador without passing through London and exposing himself to arrest. 

Msnbc.com's F. Brinley Bruton and Reuters contributed to this report. 

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Interpol via AP

Britain's High Court on Thursday blocked a U.S. bid to extradite Shawn Sullivan to Minnesota, saying the state's restrictive treatment program for sex offenders was too draconian.

LONDON -- Minnesota prosecutors' efforts to have a convicted sexual predator brought to trial in the United States were thwarted on Thursday when Britain's High Court dropped extradition proceedings, saying the U.S. hadn't guaranteed the suspect would be kept out a program some deem draconian. 

Shawn Sullivan, 43, is accused of molesting two girls and raping a third in the 1990s in Minnesota. Sullivan fled the United States and eventually ended up in London, where authorities caught up to him two years ago. 

Judges Alan Moses and David Eady said in a ruling finalized Thursday that if Sullivan were returned to the U.S., he could face a real risk of being placed in the state's civil commitment program -- which provides for the indefinite detention of people found to be sexually dangerous -- and suffer "a flagrant denial of his rights." 

'Slap in the face'
One of Sullivan's accusers called the decision "a slap in the face." 

"That whole argument is just irrational," Jessica Schaefer, 29, told The Associated Press. Sullivan allegedly molested her and her cousin when they were both 11.

"It's just another loophole in the justice system that caters to the criminals. All they have to do is find a loophole or a technicality and they walk. ... "I feel like I'm just pleading for justice, and I'm not getting anywhere." 

UK court backs extradition of Assange in sex case

The AP does not identify alleged victims of sexual assault without their consent. The Minnesota women Sullivan is accused of attacking as children agreed to let the AP use their names. 

Two Minnesota prosecutors in the counties where Sullivan faces charges defended their decision not to guarantee Sullivan would be kept out of the program, saying it was "not in the interests of public safety." 

"I think it's way beyond reasonableness for them to interfere in how we conduct business," said Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman. 

Irish conviction
Sullivan escaped to Ireland as prosecutors prepared to file charges, and while staying there was convicted of sexually assaulting two 12-year-old girls. Sullivan, a dual U.S.-Irish citizen, moved to London using an Irish passport that spelled his last name in Gaelic as "O'Suilleabhain." 

The British judges made clear in an earlier decision that they would have supported Sullivan's extradition had it not been for the sex treatment program, which they described as among the toughest in the U.S. 

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The program, which began in its current form in the mid-1990s, allows courts to commit a person for sex offender treatment if a judge decides the person is sexually psychopathic or sexually dangerous. As of April 1, 641 people were in Minnesota's program. 

The program faces constitutional challenges by some who say it holds people indefinitely after their prison sentences. One 64-year-old man received a provisional discharge earlier this year when he was allowed to move into a Minneapolis-area halfway house. Only one other person was ever released from the program, and was soon taken back into custody on a violation. 

The justices in London outlined a litany of concerns in their June 20 decision, noting offenders don't have to be mentally ill to be committed; their offenses don't have to be recent; and in some cases, they don't even have to have been convicted of a crime. 

UK judge Moses said on Thursday that "the United States will not provide an assurance," thus allowing Sullivan's appeal, according to The Independent newspaper.

"The appellant will be discharged from the proceedings," the judge said, according to the paper.

'Open the floodgates'
Officials with the Minnesota Department of Human Services said they don't know of any instances where someone without a criminal conviction has been placed in the program, though they acknowledged it's theoretically possible. 

Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom, who charged Sullivan with molesting the 11-year-old girls, said authorities hadn't decided whether to pursue civil commitment. However, he said making such a guarantee "could open the floodgates." 

"It's a very slippery slope to go down once you start making agreements," Backstrom said.

NJ man returning to stand trial over girl's killing

Peter Wold, Sullivan's criminal defense attorney in Minnesota, said the British judges balked at the prospect of indefinite detention. "That offended them, and it should offend a lot of people, to have the prospect of people being committed with no end in sight," he said. 

Human rights concerns periodically complicate efforts by U.S. prosecutors to extradite suspects. For example, European Union countries typically won't extradite suspects who could face capital punishment to the U.S. unless American prosecutors give assurances they won't seek the death penalty. 

Still, Bruce Zagaris, a Washington, D.C.,-based attorney specializing in international criminal law, said this was one of the first cases he had seen in which the U.K. has said no to extradition. 

"I think foreign courts no longer give us the benefit of the doubt," Zagaris said.

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Sullivan still faces a civil case in Minnesota, and Michael Hall III, the attorney representing the three alleged victims, said he expects that to go forward. He said significant punitive damages are possible. 

Sullivan's attorney in the civil case was out of the office Thursday and did not return a message. 

Hannah Treziok, who was 14 when she says Sullivan raped her, said she was disappointed with the British court's ruling but that she had prepared herself for this possibility. 

"The reality is, we, the victims, have for 18 years been fighting the good fight, and there is no shame in that," she said. "Even though it is not the exact outcome that we desired ... we brought him out of the shadows and exposed him for who and what he really is." 

The Associated Press and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.

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Miguel Medina / AFP - Getty Images, file

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange arrives for a hearing at the Supreme Court in London on February 2.

LONDON - British police summoned WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to a London police station on Thursday as part of his extradition process, demanding he leave Ecuador's embassy where he has been holed up seeking political asylum.

Assange, 40, is wanted for questioning in Sweden over sex crime allegations and took refuge in Ecuador's London embassy in a surprise move last week.

He now risks being arrested the moment he steps outside the red-brick building after breaching bail terms, keeping both his supporters and police puzzled as to what he might do next.

On Thursday, police said it had formally "served a surrender notice upon a 40-year-old man that requires him to attend a police station at date and time of our choosing."

WikiLeaks' Assange says Ecuador 'quite supportive'

It added: "He remains in breach of his bail conditions, failing to surrender would be a further breach of conditions and he is liable to arrest."

The statement, in line with UK police policy, did not name him but local media quoted sources identifying him as Assange.

The BBC reported the extradition unit delivered a note to both Assange and the Ecuador embassy. The embassy declined to comment. Other media reported that he was due to present himself to a police station on Friday.

Assange enraged Washington in 2010 when his WikiLeaks website published secret U.S. diplomatic cables.

He denies any wrongdoing in Sweden and says he fears that if extradited there he could be sent on to the United States, where he could face criminal charges punishable by death.

Assange, known for his unpredictable behavior, caused a media storm in Britain with his asylum bid. Ecuador's ambassador has in the meantime flown home to discuss whether to grant him asylum but the decision has yet to be made.

By diplomatic convention, police cannot enter the embassy without authorization from Ecuador. But even if Quito granted him asylum, he has no way of travelling to Ecuador without passing through London and exposing himself to arrest.

WikiLeaks' Assange seeks asylum in Ecuador 

On Tuesday, a group of celebrities and activists published an open letter to Ecuador published in The Guardian newspaper asking that Assange be given asylum in that country because he faced the death penalty if eventually sent to the United States. 

"We believe Mr Assange has good reason to fear extradition to Sweden, as there is a strong likelihood that once in Sweden, he would be imprisoned, and then likely extradited to the United States," reads the letter signed by the leaker of the Pentagon Papers Daniel Ellsberg, film-maker Michael Moore, actor and director Danny Glover, director Oliver Stone, comedian Bill Maher and author Naomi Wolf, among others.

Reuters contributed to this report. 

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Oli Scarff / Getty Images

Embassy staff serve coffee to members of the media waiting for Julian Assange outside the Ecuadorian embassy on Friday in London. Julian Assange, the founder of the WikiLeaks whistle-blowing website, has sought refuge in Ecuador's London embassy to prevent him from being extradited to Sweden on allegations of rape and assault.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Friday said he was ready for a life in Ecuador and said the country had been "quite supportive" of his bid for asylum.

Assange is holed up in Ecuador's embassy in London, England, where he has sought asylum in a bid to avoid extradition to Sweden where he is wanted for questioning on sexual assault charges.

He faces arrest by British police if he leaves the embassy.

In a telephone interview with Australian Broadcasting Corpation radio from the embassy, Assange said he was concerned about being sent to the United States to face possible charges related to the WikiLeaks website, which published thousands of leaked U.S. diplomatic cables in 2010.

"The Ecuadorean people have been quite supportive. I heard (the) Ecuadorean Ambassador in Australia has been making supportive comments. They are sympathetic over a long period of time," he said.

Facundo Arrizabalaga / EPA file

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange arrives at the Supreme Court in London Feb. 2.

"We hope the asylum application will be viewed favorably. Now it's is a matter of gathering extensive evidence of what is happening in the U.S. and submitting that with a formal request,” he added.

Assange said he had no indication of when Ecuador would decide on his asylum claim, and said his move was aimed at raising awareness of U.S. moves to prosecute him over the 2010 leaks.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange seeks asylum in Ecuador

He fears that if sent to Sweden, he would then be extradited to the United States where he believes he could face criminal charges punishable by death.

He said he was not running away from questioning over sexual assault allegations in Sweden, but said the Swedish prosecutors had refused to visit him in Britain or contact him by phone.

"This issue is about a very serious matter in the United States," he said, adding Swedish authorities said he would be detained on arrival in Sweden.

Assange said his case was currently before a U.S. grand jury, which would decide whether charges could be laid. He said U.S. authorities have been careful not to confirm or deny any grand jury investigation.

"There are subpoenas everywhere. We have received subpoenas, there are subpoenas in my name," he said, adding people have been detained at U.S. airports and been questioned by the FBI and asked to become informers.

Assange also hit out Australia for not taking stronger action to protect him, saying he had no consular contacts since December 2010 apart from telephone text messages.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has said Assange has received more consular support than anyone in a similar position, while Attorney-General Nicola Roxon said Australia has regularly made representations about Assange to authorities in the U.S., Sweden and Britain.

"It is an effective declaration of abandonment," Assange said.

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Luka Magnotta, a Canadian porn actor accused of killing and dismembering his 33-year-old Chinese lover in Montreal, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to multiple charges, including first-degree murder.

Magnotta was arraigned a day after he arrived in Canada, touching down at Quebec’s Mirabel Airport aboard a military jet. He was extradited from Germany.

Magnotta appeared via teleconference at the Montreal courthouse Tuesday afternoon, the CBC reported.

Magnotta, 29, was arrested at an Internet cafe in Berlin on June 4 after a 10-day manhunt.

Magnotta, born Eric Newman, was a porn actor and escort who reportedly has at least 70 Facebook pages, including some with violent language about killing lovers.

Canadian authorities allege that he filmed the murder and dismemberment of Lin Jun, a Concordia University student, in late May; posted the footage on a website dedicated to gore; and then mailed Lin’s hands and feet to political parties in Ottawa and schools in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Lin’s torso was found in a suitcase in the alley of Magnotta’s apartment building. His head has not been recovered.

Police believe that after mailing Lin’s body parts, Magnotta flew to Paris, where he partied for several days before heading to Germany. When authorities found him at the Internet café in Berlin, he was reading about himself, according to media reports.

NBC News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Earlier: Luka Magnotta, suspected dismemberment killer, extradited to Canada

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Montreal Police via AP

Luka Magnotta is taken by police from a Canadian military plane to a waiting van in Mirabel, Quebec on Monday.

Updated at 8:11 p.m. ET: Luka Magnotta, accused of killing and dismembering a 33-year-old Chinese student in Montreal, arrived in Canada on Monday evening, touching down at Montreal's Mirabel Airport aboard a military jet. He was traveling with a Montreal police escort, according to Canadian news reports.

Magnotta, 29, was arrested at an Internet cafe in the German capital of Berlin on June 4 after a 10-day manhunt. He is expected to appear in a Quebec court within 24 hours.

Rob Nicholson, Canada’s minister of justice, and Vic Toews, minister of public safety, issued a statement Monday about Magnotta’s extradition: "The Government of Canada thanks the Government of Germany for their swift and decisive action in this matter. Canada values the cooperation of its international partners in the fight against crime.”

Fugitive Canadian porn actor found in Berlin reading about self

Magnotta, born Eric Newman, was a porn actor and escort who reportedly has at least 70 Facebook pages, including some with violent language about killing lovers.

Canadian authorities allege that he filmed the murder and dismemberment of Lin Jun, a Concordia University student, in late May; posted the footage on a website dedicated to gore; and then mailed Lin’s hands and feet to political parties in Ottawa and schools in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Paris police probe sighting of fugitive Canadian porn actor wanted for murder

Montreal Police / AFP - Getty Images

Police distributed this photo of Luka Rocco Magnotta, suspected of killing and dismembering a Chinese student. Magnotta was extradited to Canada from Germany on Monday.

Lin’s torso was found in a suitcase in the alley of Magnotta’s apartment building. His head has not been recovered.

Police believe that after mailing Lin’s body parts, Magnotta flew to Paris, where he partied for several days before heading to Germany. When authorities found him at the Internet café in Berlin, he was reading about himself, according to media reports.

Police: Body parts in Vancouver were from Montreal victims

Lin’s family arrived in Canada from China earlier in June and issued an open letter written in Chinese, thanking Canadians for their support following their son’s slaying, Radio-Canada reported.

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