WikiLeaks founder wanted in Sweden for rape: prosecutor

Stockholm: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is wanted in Sweden where he has been accused of rape, the prosecutor's office said on Saturday.

"Julian Assange is wanted for two different issues, one of them is that he's suspected of rape in Sweden," the director of communications Karin Rosander told AFP.

He was unable to say what the other accusation was or whether the search warrant was international.

According to the Swedish daily Expressen, the 39-year-old Australian is also wanted for assaulting a woman.

Assange, whose whereabouts is unclear, told Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter via email that he had not been contacted by the police.

"Why these accusations are popping up right now is an interesting question. I have not been contacted by police. These allegations are false," he said.

Assange was in Sweden last week, where he announced at a press conference that the whistleblower website was set to publish a final batch of 15,000 secret documents on the war in Afghanistan in "a couple of weeks."