U.K. Police Amassing Outside Assange's Embassy Refuge

Ecuador embassy surrounded around midnight, according to reports.

Police are massing outside the Ecuadorian embassy in London where Australian WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is holed up after seeking political asylum.

WikiLeaks tweeted this morning that police in two large vans had arrived "to surround the Ecuadorian embassy in London" about midnight, local time.

Fairfax Media correspondent Karen Kissane reports from outside the embassy that a police custody van is parked 20 metres from the front door and three Metropolitan Police tactical support group members, normally assigned to public order duties, are at the entrance to the building.