Stockholm, Sweden (CNN) -- WikiLeaks founder and editor Julian Assange said Swedish authorities reached "the height of irresponsibility" by issuing an arrest warrant alleging rape against him, then revoking it less than a day later.
"It is clearly a smear campaign," Assange told Arabic news network Al-Jazeera in a live telephone interview Sunday. "... The only question is, who was involved?"
Asked who he thinks was behind the accusations, Assange told the network, "We have some suspicions about who would benefit, but without direct evidence, I would not be willing to make a direct allegation".
Meanwhile, the Swedish Prosecution Authority said in an update on its website that Assange's name was leaked to the media, and the authority -- which does not normally publish the names of suspects -- "did not in this case initiate publication".
However, the office did confirm Assange's identity and later published his name in statements about his arrest and the subsequent revocation.
An arrest warrant was filed against Assange in absentia on Friday. Swedish media, citing unnamed sources, reported that two women, ages 20 and 30, reported the allegations to police, leading to the warrant being filed. The AftonBladet, a respected Swedish daily, said the 30-year-old told the newspaper that the younger woman had approached her with a story similar to hers -- that she had consensual sex with Assange but that the situation had turned abusive. Karin Rosander, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office, would not confirm the reports. CNN
