WikiLeaks' Assange requests new lawyer in Sweden

(AP) -- WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has requested a new lawyer to represent him in Sweden after a prosecutor decided to reopen a rape investigation against him.

In a note to the Stockholm district court Tuesday a representative of Assange wrote he is not satisfied with prominent Swedish lawyer Leif Silbersky and wants Bjorn Hurtig instead.

The note said Silbersky hasn't been sufficiently engaged enough in the case.

A senior prosecutor reopened a rape investigation last week against the founder of the whistle-blower web site because of allegations from two Swedish women.

Assange denies the claims, suggesting they are part of a smear campaign by opponents of WikiLeaks, which has angered Washington by publishing thousands of leaked U.S. military documents.

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