Mysterious Plant
Ecuador's Embassy in central London is sovereign territory - a place where people go only at the invitation of its diplomatic staff.
For the past year the Embassy has become a 'home from home' for Julian Assange - who is on the run from UK authorities who wish to extradite the WikiLeaks founder to Sweden - where he faces charges of sexual assault made by two separate women.
In jumping his bail and making his way (equally mysteriously) to the Embassy in London - Assange was in defiance of court proceedings that he had given his solemn word to observe - and by that time Ecuador was, of course, giving support to a known fugitive.
A man wanted for questioning about alleged criminal offences in another friendly European country, namely Sweden.
So I can't surely be the only person to have found it hysterically funny when Ecuador announced the other day that it found a 'bug' in its Embassy offices - the unspoken allegation being that it must have been planted there by UK intelligence forces such as MI5.
Well if it was, then so what?
Because what right do these diplomats have to complain about anything when they are breaking laws in the UK and cynically abusing the asylum seeking process - by sheltering someone like Julian Assange.
But I think it's much more likely that Julian planted the bug himself - or possibly someone acting on his behalf - because how could MI5 or anyone else just wander into the Ambassador's residence and fix a listening device underneath his desk, or in a flowerpot.
More like Johnny English than James Bond - if you ask me.
No, the whole thing sounds like an amateurish publicity stunt - just the sort of thing that Julian and his pals would get up to as a way of trying to win some sympathy for a man who - quite ironically - believes that no one is entitled to have any secrets.
Unless his name is Julian Assange, of course.
