Julian Assange, founder of the whistle-blower website WikiLeaks who has been embroiled in a fight with the Pentagon over the recent release of classified documents, briefly became the focus of new attention on Saturday when Swedish prosecutors sought him for questioning on rape allegations -- then quickly said the accusations were unfounded. Assange, a 39-year-old Australian, had quickly posted a denial of the Swedish allegations on Twitter after the accusations were reported and later the site said: 'We were warned to expect 'dirty tricks.' Now we have the first one.' Assange became an instant celebrity last month after WikiLeaks posted about 77,000 classified Pentagon documents on the war in Afghanistan. In recent weeks, he has warned the Pentagon that he intends to release 15,000 more documents. U.S. prosecutors have been exploring whether or how to criminally prosecute Assange or WikiLeaks for the recent disclosures, and he has spent much of that time in Sweden, which has strong press freedom laws that he hoped would offer protection against legal actions. Assange did not respond immediately to attempts by reporters for The New York Times to reach him by e-mail and telephone, and Karin Rosander, a spokeswoman for Sweden's national prosecutor's office, said in a telephone interview that the police did not know Assange's whereabouts. Rosander initially confirmed that Assange was wanted for questioning on rape allegations, but she could not be reached after news reports said the prosecutor's office was no longer seeking him. The prosecutor's website said, 'Chief Prosecutor Eva Finne has come to the decision that Julian Assange is not suspected of rape.' It also said the prosecutor would make no other comment on Saturday night. The prosecutor's office had provided few details of the accusations earlier in the day. It was not immediately clear if Assange remained in Sweden, where he made his last public appearance on Monday, at a news conference in Stockholm in which he said that WikiLeaks planned to defy Pentagon warnings and go ahead with the Internet posting of 15,000 more secret documents on the Afghanistan war, probably within a month. WikiLeaks posted all but 15,000 of the documents on the Afghan war on its website last month, calling it an 'Afghan War Diary,' after sharing them in advance of the posting with three publications, including The Times, the British newspaper The Guardian, and Der Spiegel, a German magazine, each of which ran extensive articles based on the documents. The publications described the logs as giving important new insights into the way in which the war is being fought by the United States and its allies. Pentagon officials have described the leak as one of the most damaging in years, and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told a Pentagon news conference that an inquiry by investigators for the Pentagon and the FBI 'should go wherever it needs to go.' On the same occasion, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said WikiLeaks 'might already have on their hands the blood of some young soldier or that of an Afghan family' for posting documents on the Internet that included some names and other details that could allow the Taliban to identify Afghans who act as informers for coalition forces or work with them. Before publishing its own articles based on the 70,000 documents posted on the Internet, The Times, acting on a White House request, passed on to Assange a request that WikiLeaks not publish documents or other information that could lead to people's being harmed. In its articles, The Times and the other two publications excluded details that identified individuals or could compromise operations. Assange responded to the White House request by announcing that WikiLeaks was withholding 15,000 of the 90,000 Pentagon documents involved for what WikiLeaks has described as a 'harm minimization' process, redacting the documents to eliminate any risk of 'unjustified retribution' for individuals who could otherwise be identified. He also asked the Pentagon to assist in redacting the unreleased documents, saying that WikiLeaks lacked the $700,000 it would need to carry out the exhaustive job of reviewing the documents. But the Pentagon rejected the proposal and demanded that WikiLeaks return all the secret U.S. documents in its possession. Pentagon officials also warned of possible criminal charges against Assange and others as a result of its own investigation of the leaks. In the wake of the Pentagon warnings, Assange, who has adopted a Pimpernel existence since founding WikiLeaks in 2006, has reverted to a secretive, shadowy lifestyle, announcing an appearance at London's Frontline Club two weeks ago, then canceling the appearance for 'logistical' reasons and then rescheduling it a few days later and appearing by Skype from Sweden. 