STOCKHOLM – WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is suspected of rape in Sweden, where authorities have issued a warrant for his arrest, officials said Saturday.

The 39-year-old Australian denied the allegations on WikiLeaks' Twitter page, saying they "are without basis and their issue at this moment is deeply disturbing."

Assange, who has sought Swedish legal protection for the whistle-blower website, is suspected of molestation and rape in two separate cases, said Karin Rosander, a spokeswoman for the Swedish Prosecution Authority.

"He should get in contact with police so that he can be confronted with the suspicions," Rosander told The Associated Press.

She said a prosecutor in Stockholm issued the arrest warrant on Friday. The move means police are ordered to seek his arrest as part of an investigation but doesn't necessarily mean that criminal charges will be filed.

"The next step is that we interrogate him," Rosander said. "Then we'll see what happens."

WikiLeaks has angered the Obama administration by publishing thousands of leaked documents about U.S. military activities in Iraq and Afghanistan. Assange said Wednesday that WikiLeaks plans to release a new batch of 15,000 documents from the Afghan war within weeks.

He was in Sweden last week partly to apply for a publishing certificate to make sure the website, which has servers in Sweden, can take full advantage of Swedish laws protecting whistle-blowers.

He also spoke at a seminar hosted by the Christian faction of the opposition Social Democratic party and announced he would write bimonthly columns for a left-wing Swedish newspaper.

WikiLeaks commented on the rape allegations on its Twitter page. Apart from the comment from Assange, the page had a link to an article in Swedish tabloid Expressen, which first reported the allegations.

"We were warned to expect 'dirty tricks.' Now we have the first one," one Tweet said.

"Expressen is a tabloid; No one here has been contacted by Swedish police. Needless to say this will prove hugely distracting," said another.

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I dunno. He seems every bit as asexual as he is translucent.

Wheres the option to say no?

Trickery by the USA government to make him disappear sounds awfully valid in this case.

I’m much more inclined to believe that his increased notoriety from the Wikileaks scandals led to these charges than some grand government conspiracy. Like most celebrities who end up with similar accusations I think there are two likely causes, someone they did harm finally seeks charges because they’re (in part) upset by how people worship you, or someone you didn’t harm wants to use your notoriety to become "famous"

I don't think it's a coincidence the pentagon was demanding some files from him just a few days ago.

Something is rotten in the... district of Columbia? Haha.

But he could be guilty, who knows.

It does seem somewhat likely that its an attempt to discredit him. However we will see what happens in the future, if he is a rapist then he deserves a long term in prison like all the other rapists.

we are talking rape, so no means yes...and since i already have a yes, a no would have been redundant.