Assange to write tell-all for legal funds

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has told a British newspaper that he expects to earn about $1.5 million from book deals that will be used to fund his legal defence.

"I don't want to write this book, but I have to," he told the Sunday Times. "I have already spent 200,000 pounds [$307,408] for legal costs and I need to defend myself and to keep WikiLeaks afloat."

Assange told the Times he would receive 325,000 pounds ($502,000) from U.K. publisher Canongate Books and $800,000 from U.S. publishing house Alfred A. Knopf, a unit of Random House, for writing an autobiography.

Assange said he expected to make at least 1 million pounds after the book was serialized and sold to other international publishers.

U.S. publisher Random House confirmed the deal and expects a manuscript to be delivered at some point in 2011.

Paul Bogaards, a spokesman for the U.S. publisher, told the Wall Street Journal Sunday: "We are very excited to be publishing this book. The work that Assange has been doing at WikiLeaks has tremendous importance around the world."

Assange, whom Vice-President Joe Biden has branded a "hi-tech terrorist" after his whistleblower website began releasing more than a quarter of a million diplomatic cables, is contesting an attempt by Swedish authorities to extradite him to answer sexual misconduct allegations.