Anonymous claims attacks on UK government websites

Hacker group Anonymous has hit UK government websites over the UK government's stand on extraditing Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

According to the office of prime minister David Cameron and the Home Office, attempts to disrupt their sites had largely failed leading only to minor problems, although the ministry of justice (MoJ) said its website had been affected in the attack.

The incident comes as Assange, in a bid to beat extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over rape allegations, remains holed up in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London.

Meanwhile, Assange and Ecuador have slammed the British government for suggestions of revocation of the embassy's diplomatic status in order to enter and arrest him.

A justice ministry spokeswoman said the ministry website was one dealing with public information and held no sensitive data. She added, measures deployed to keep the website functioning normally meant that some visitors might not be able to access the site from time to time.

A Downing Street spokeswoman dismissing the incident said, "There may have been an attempt but as far as we are concerned it was unsuccessful."