Mrs Assange defends her boy for ‘fighting baddies’

He may be the world's most wanted man, with the US Attorney-General Eric Holder after his blood and Interpol chasing him with an arrest warrant, but at least Julian Assange has his mother on his side. She is proud that her son is "a seeker of truth" - but worried that he has "gotten too smart for himself".

Christine Assange, who runs a puppet theatre in the seaside resort of Noosa in Queensland, told the Herald Sun newspaper: "Whether you agree with what Julian does or not, living by what you believe in and standing up for something is a good thing.

"He sees what he's doing as doing a good thing in the world, fighting baddies, if you like."

Mrs Assange has no computer but follows his exploits through the newspapers and TV. "Of course, I'm his mother, he's my little boy. I'm just a normal mother."

She said she had brought him up without religion but with a strong code of ethics. Her worry now is that WikiLeaks has made too many enemies. "I'm concerned it's gotten too big and the forces that he's challenging are too big."

Julian Assange's 21-year-old son Daniel has already expressed his fears for his father.

He told Crikey.com in September:"I am very surprised that the governments haven't actually done what some of the journalists have been recommending, which is just to assassinate him." ·