Assange promiscuous? ‘A gentleman does not count’

WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange was pressed to answer questions about his sexual experience in an extraordinary interview with John Humphrys, broadcast on Radio 4's Today programme this morning.

In the light of claims by two Swedish women, Humphrys suggested to Assange that he is a sexual predator who enjoys having sex with young women, preferably without a condom.

Assange's replied simply: "A gentleman does not discuss his private life."

Humphrys responded that it was not his private life any longer - it was a public matter following the two women's complaints to police. Humphrys pressed him: "How many women have you slept with?"

Assange: "A gentleman does not count."

The bizarre exchange followed this morning's interview with the Times, in which Assange says: "I'm not promiscuous. I just love women." Choosing to give his first newspaper interview since his nine days in Wandsworth jail to a Murdoch paper, Assange underlined his deepening rift with the Guardian.

The Guardian has so far been WikiLeaks' favoured newspaper in the UK. Alongside Der Spiegel in Germany and the USA's New York Times, it was given privileged first access to the hundreds of thousands of secret US diplomatic cables released on the whistle-blowing website.

But, speaking to the Times, Assange said he was "disgusted" that the Guardian had chosen to publish detailed allegations about sex offences made against him by two Swedish women and leaked from police records to the newspaper.

Assange believes the leak was a malicious attempt to prejudice his attempt to secure bail in the UK while he resists extradition to
Sweden to face the allegations. "The leak was clearly designed to
undermine my bail application," he said. "Someone in authority clearly intended to keep Julian in prison."

The Guardian has confirmed that it received the documents before the appeal by the Crown Prosecution Service against Assange's bail was quashed on Thursday – but held them over until Saturday, giving Assange the chance to respond before publication.

But Assange singled out senior Guardian reporter Nick Davies whom he blames for "selectively publishing" incriminating material from the police files. On Sunday, the Mail claimed that a "senior journalist" at the Guardian was now refusing to deal with Assange, implying it was because he was arrogant and difficult to work with – and there will be speculation today that that was a reference to Davies.

The Times interview also contains the revelation that WikiLeaks' next publication could destroy one of the world's biggest banks. Shares in Bank of America recently plummeted after rumours spread online that it would be targeted.

Assange confirmed that he would publish material about a major bank early next year. "We don't want the bank to suffer unless it's called for," he told the paper. "But if its management is operating in a responsive way there will be resignations."

But Assange may have been cutting off his nose to spite his face in speaking to the Times. It is hard to imagine he was pleased with the paper's headline, ‘WikiLeaks: Assange turns on his friends’. ·