Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange could face a renewed investigation into an allegation of rape in Sweden, BBC News reported.

Assange, 47, who had requested asylum in Ecuador's London embassy and lived there for the past seven years, was arrested on Thursday.

Swedish prosecutors said they are re-examining the rape case at the request of the alleged victim's lawyer.

In turn, lawyer Elizabeth Massi Fritz said that she would do everything possible to resume the investigation of the case in Sweden.

Assange gained fame after WikiLeaks published a large number of leaked files, including some referring to US military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, and conditions in the Guantanamo detention camp.

In 2012, Assange sought refuge in London's Ecuadorian Embassy to escape extradition to Sweden, which had issued a warrant for his arrest on sexual harassment and rape charges. Assange dismissed the accusations as politically motivated. His worst fear was Sweden might extradite him to the United States, where he would face 35 years in prison or capital punishment for publishing classified State Department documents. The rape case was dropped in 2017 but the United Kingdom continued to insist that Assange be arrested over his failure to appear in court in London.