Julian Assange, WikiLeaks founder, sees U.K. police removed from embassy where he's holed up

British police have removed its officers from outside the Ecuadorean Embassy where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been holed up since June 2012, but say they will still do their best to arrest him.

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Police said Monday because there is "no imminent prospect of a diplomatic or legal resolution to this issue," a round-the-clock police presence is "no longer proportionate."

The 24-hour operation has been controversial in part because it is so costly. London's Metropolitan Police saythe operation had cost the equivalent of about $22.8 million Cdnthrough April 2015.

The police force said in a statement thatAssangeis still subject to arrest for jumping bail and holing up in the embassy while wanted for questioning over sexual assault allegations in Sweden. It said if he leaves the embassy, the force will "deploy a number of overt and covert tactics to arrest him."

In August, Swedish prosecutorsdropped cases of alleged sexual misconductagainst the 44-year-old, but still want to question him about accusations of rape made after his visit to the country in 2010.

Assangedenies all the allegations and believes extradition to Sweden is merely the first step in efforts to bring him to the U.S. overWikiLeaks' secret-spilling activities.

Swedish officials have held talks with Ecuador about questioningAssangeat the embassy in London, so far with no result.

Earlier this year, Metropolitan Police chief BernardHogan-Howesaid the force was reviewing theAssangeoperation because it was "sucking our resources."