News crews and the exterior of the Ecuadorian embassy, where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is holed up, are pictured in London on February 4, 2016. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said he could leave the Ecuadorian embassy in London on Friday pending an opinion by a UN panel on his alleged rape case -- but Britain said it would have to arrest him. The 44-year-old has been holed up in the embassy in west London since June 2012 in a bid to avoid extradition to Sweden over rape allegations, charges he has denied. / AFP / CHRIS RATCLIFFE