A U.K. court delays extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the U.S.

LONDON — Julian Assange won't be heading to the United States — at least not immediately.

In a partial victory for the WikiLeaks founder, London's High Court on Tuesday delayed his extradition to the U.S., where he faces espionage charges for one of the biggest national security leaks in American history.

Assange's lawyers had asked the court to grant him one last appeal against his extradition.

The two-judge panel delayed a ruling on that. Instead, it gave the U.S. government three weeks to send assurances that Assange would get a fair trial and that he would not receive the death penalty if convicted. Otherwise, the judges wrote, an appeal may proceed.

"If those assurances are not given, then leave to appeal will be given and there will then be an appeal hearing," according to a summary of the judgment published on the U.K. judiciary's website.

The judges said they would hold another hearing May 20 to evaluate any such assurances from U.S. officials.

The U.S. Justice Department declined to comment Tuesday.

Tuesday's judgment means Assange remains in legal limbo, in a high-security prison on the edge of London. He's been there for five years, after spending seven years in the Ecuadorian Embassy.

Who is Julian Assange, and what is WikiLeaks?

Assange, 52, is originally from Australia. In his teens, he became a skilled computer programmer, and later, a hacker — who was arrested for that in the mid-1990s. He went on, in 2006, to found WikiLeaks — a web-based platform where whistleblowers worldwide can publish leaked files or documents. The organization has collaborated with traditional media outlets around the world to vet and publish material.

WikiLeaks calls itself a multimedia organization and library that publishes