German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has welcomed a planned plea deal for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange with the United States.
"I can only say that I am very happy that this case, which has been discussed very emotionally all over the world and has moved many people, has finally found a solution," Baerbock said on Tuesday during a visit to Jerusalem in response to questions from journalists.
The agreement in principle will allow Assange - who has been held in jail in the United Kingdom in a years-long extradition dispute - to be released to freedom in exchange for pleading guilty to espionage before a US court.
The US accuses Assange of stealing and publishing secret material from military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan with whistleblower Chelsea Manning, thereby allegedly endangering the lives of US intelligence sources and others.
