Swedish officials will meet their Ecuadorian counterparts on Monday to find

a way for Swedish prosecutors to question WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange over a rape

allegation.

"It is the first time that we are going to meet and we will discuss a general agreement for

judicial cooperation between the two countries," Swedish justice ministry official Cecilia

Riddselius told AFP on Friday.

The move comes just two weeks after Swedish prosecutors dropped a sexual assault probe

against Assange after the time limit on the case expired, but said they still want to

question him about a rape allegation.

Assange has been holed up since 2012 at Ecuador's embassy, which is under 24-hour police

guard and close to London's upscale department store Harrods.

The 44-year-old Australian fears that if he leaves he could eventually face extradition to

the United States and a trial over the leak of hundreds of thousands of classified military

and diplomatic documents in 2010.