Washington, November 16: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who was behind a massive dump of classified US documents in 2010, has been charged in the United States, WikiLeaks said on Thursday night.

Prosecutors revealed the existence of the sealed indictment inadvertently in a court filing in an unrelated case, WikiLeaks said. WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange Steps Down as Editor After 'Incommunicado Detention'.

The exact nature of the charges against Assange was not immediately known.