Julian Assange has told reporters that the US investigation into his Wikileaks organisation was "aggressive" and "illegal".

He went on to say that over 85% of his organisation's economic resources are spent fighting "technical, legal and political attacks".

Mr Assange was speaking to reporters outside the Suffolk mansion of supporter Vaughan Smith. He is under house arrest while awaiting extradition proceedings by a Swedish prosecutor over allegations of sexual assault, which he denies.

He also said that publishing rates of his Wikileaks website increased during his stay in solitary confinement.

Mr Assange said his organisation had so far published only 2,000 of the 250,000 cables they have obtained.