WikiLeaks news compilation

[Cigar Guy]

WikiLeaks news: all the news on WikiLeaks and Julian Assange.


Wikileaks' Assange in UK, police know where: report

Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, holds a news conference at the Geneva Press Club in Geneva, November 4, 2010. Credit: Reuters/Valentin Flauraud

LONDON | Wed Dec 1, 2010 8:04pm EST

LONDON (Reuters) - Wikileaks website founder Julian Assange is in Britain and police know his whereabouts but have refrained so far from acting on an international warrant for his arrest, a British newspaper said on Thursday. The 39-year-old Australian, who founded the whistle-blowing website that has disclosed a trove of secret U.S. diplomatic cables, supplied British police with contact details upon his arrival in October, The Independent said.

The newspaper cited police sources who said they knew where Assange was staying and had his telephone number. It added that it was believed he was in southeast England. The international police agency Interpol this week issued a "red notice" to assist in the arrest of Assange, who is wanted in Sweden on suspicion of sexual crimes, but Britain's Serious Organized Crime Agency (Soca) so far has refused to authorize this, the paper said.

Citing unnamed sources, the Independent said Soca needed clarifications about the European Arrest Warrant issued by Swedish prosecutors but it described the delay as technical. The Metropolitan Police and Soca declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. Assange, a former computer hacker, leads a nomadic existence and cultivates an aura of mystery. He left Sweden last month after authorities there said they wanted to question him about allegations of rape and other sexual offenses.

U.S. authorities, bruised by the international damage caused by thousands of classified U.S. documents being leaked to the media, have promised to take action to shut down such activities. On Monday, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said the Justice Department had "an active, ongoing criminal investigation with regard to this matter" and insisted the Obama administration's promises of action were "not saber rattling."

(Reporting by Michel Rose; editing by Michael Roddy)

 

[Cigar Guy]

WikiLeaks release: WikiLeaks to release three million secret US documents

The WikiLeaks website has announced it plans to publish nearly three million more secret US documents in its next mass release of confidential material.

By Alex Spillius in Washington 7:00PM GMT 22 Nov 2010

It would be seven times larger than its release last month, when it posted some 400,000 secret documents about the war in Iraq on its site.

"Next release is 7x the size of the Iraq War Logs. Intense pressure over it for months. Keep us strong," WikiLeaks said on its Twitter feed, adding a link to a donations website.

"The coming months will see a new world, where global history is redefined." it added in a later message. It would be WikiLeaks' third mass release of classified documents after it published 77,000 secret US files on the Afghan conflict in July.

The US authorities fear that a substantial amount of the next leak could include cables prepared by ambassadors and diplomats in the Middle East that could prove more damaging than the earlier releases. The State Department has previously expressed concerns that the material could reveal the "source and methods" used by the US to gather intelligence overseas.

Foreign leaders could be able to read what American diplomats have written about them in secret cables sent to Washington, such as appraisals of their leaders' personalities, competence and honesty. Earlier this year Bradley Manning, the soldier suspected of providing the material for the first two leaks, boasted about providing 260,000 stolen cables to WikiLeaks, according to a former computer hacker who chatted with him online.

"Hillary Clinton and several thousand diplomats around the world are going to have a heart attack when they wake up one morning, and find an entire repository of classified foreign policy is available, in searchable format, to the public," Manning wrote at the time.

However, analysts said the announcement by WikiLeaks, which gave no details of the contents of the documents and said only that the release would be in "coming months", could be designed to relieve pressure on Julian Assange, the website's Australian head. He is wanted in Sweden for questioning related to rape and sexual molestation accusations.

Mr Assange has been in England since leaving Sweden, where the website is based, in August after publicity surrounding the allegations made by two women. Mark Stephens, a London lawyer working for Mr Assange, said the allegations were "false and without basis". He also said Mr Assange has repeatedly offered to be interviewed by the Swedish authorities.

"All of these offers have been flatly refused by a prosecutor who is abusing her powers by insisting that he return to Sweden at his own expense to be subjected to another media circus that she will orchestrate," he said. WikiLeaks has defended it earlier releases, saying they have shed light on the two wars.

The Iraq files contained allegations of torture by Iraqi forces which were routinely ignored by the Americans and suggested that there has been 15,000 more civilian deaths in Iraq than previously thought. Incident reports told how a helicopter gunship involved in the shooting of journalists also shot insurgents after they tried to surrender.

The Afghan logs detailed cooperation by local informers with the US forces, raising fears that Taliban insurgents would exact revenge. A subsequent Pentagon investigation however found there had been no such reprisals.

 

[Cigar Guy]

WikiLeaks: North Korea 'assisting Iran's development of nuclear weapons'


WikiLeaks: North Korea 'assisting Iran's development of nuclear weapons'

North Korea has been secretly assisting Iran develop a weapons programme under the auspices of the Chinese government, American officials believe.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange Photo: EPA

By Holly Watt 7:00AM GMT 30 Nov 2010

The US government has repeatedly asked the Chinese to stop shipments between the rogue states passing through Beijing airport, according to memos sent by both the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and her predecessor, Condoleezza Rice.

Documents released by Wikileaks show that the Americans provided Chinese officials with details of the exact times and planes on which supplies were being sent from North Korea to Iran.

The website is understood to be preparing to release more detailed documents setting out the American government’s view of North Korea – and the country’s relationship with both China and Iran.

The Americans had particular concerns about jet engine parts being sent from North Korea to Iran on board the national airlines Air Koryo and Iran Air on at least 10 occasions. Another memo written by the Secretary of State in 2008 lists the countries that North Korean planes must fly over to reach Iran, and officials in the embassies are told how to deal with these countries.

 

[Cigar Guy]

WikiLeaks: Saudi King suggested trackers for Guantánamo prisoners


WikiLeaks: Saudi King suggested trackers for Guantánamo prisoners

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia told a senior White House official that electronic devices should be implanted in Guantánamo Bay prisoners so they could be tracked after their release, according to a leaked cable.

Undiplomatic: President Obama and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia Photo: AFP/GETTY

Toby Harnden in Washington 7:30AM GMT 30 Nov 2010

The king's surprise suggestion was made to John Brennan, President Barack Obama's top counter-terrorism adviser, in a meeting in Riyadh in March 2009. The cable recounts that he said: "I've just thought of something."

He then proposed implanting detainees with an electronic chip "containing information about them and allowing their movements to be tracked with Bluetooth". He pointed out that this "was done with horses and falcons".

Mr Brennan, a former senior CIA officer, appeared amused by the suggestion and unconvinced of its practicality, replying that "horses don't have good lawyers" and pointing out that such an action proposal would face legal hurdles in the US.

During the same meeting, King Abdullah smothered Mr Obama with flattery. In a section of the titled by the State Department as The World Needs Obama, it was recounted that King Abdullah had said: "Thank God for bringing Obama to the presidency."

The king continued that Mr Obama had created "great hope" in the Muslim world, saying: "May God grant him strength and patience. May God protect him. I'm concerned about his personal safety. America and the world need such a president."

Mr Brennan said that Mr Obama was looking forward to meeting King Abdullah at the forthcoming G20 summit in London. When the meeting happened, Mr Obama made an elaborate bow, attracting criticism in the US that he was subjecting himself to a foreign monarch.

 

[Cigar Guy]

WikiLeaks: British and US governments stupid, says Prince Andrew


WikiLeaks: British and US governments stupid, says Prince Andrew

When the newly appointed US ambassador to Kyrgyzstan sat down to a business leaders’ brunch with the Duke of York, she was no doubt expecting a brisk one-hour briefing on investment opportunities in the central Asian republic.

Maxim Bakiyev, left, and Prince Andrew Photo: EPA & GEOFF PUGH

By Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter 8:00AM GMT 30 Nov 2010

Instead, Tatania Gfoeller was taken aback as the Duke gave full rein to his undiplomatic views on a host of foreign powers, roaring with laughter as he apparently denounced them as corrupt, stupid or backward.

The ambassador to Bishkek was so surprised that she fired off a 2,000-word dispatch to Washington detailing the Duke’s colourful language during a discussion dominated by his “unmitigated patriotic fervour”.

The meeting took place on Oct 28, 2008, at a hotel in Bishkek, where the British ambassador, Paul Brummell, had invited his US counterpart to join a table of British and Canadian investors in Kyrgyzstan before the Duke met the Kyrgyz prime minister.

“Astonishingly candid, the discussion at times verged on the rude (from the British side),” wrote the US ambassador. The discussion began with the mining and oil bosses grumbling about the system in Kyrgyzstan, where “nothing gets done” without the president’s son’s approval.

“Prince Andrew took up the topic with gusto” and “laughed uproariously, saying that: 'All of this sounds exactly like France.’” When the businessmen harped that the Kyrgyz were “not bothering” to change their ways, the Duke “returned to what is obviously a favourite theme”, saying: “They won’t need to make any changes to attract the French either!

“The Prince mused that outsiders could do little to change the system here.” He told his audience: “They themselves have to have a change of heart. Just like you have to cure yourself of anorexia. No one else can do it for you.”

The Duke turned to regional politics, and “stated baldly” that “the United Kingdom, Western Europe (and by extension you Americans too)” were “now back in the thick of playing the Great Game”. The ambassador added: “More animated than ever, he stated cockily: 'And this time we aim to win!’”

Under the subheading “Rude language à la British”, the ambassador rounded off her cable by describing the Duke’s views on his own country. “The brunch had lasted almost twice its allotted time, but the Prince looked like he was just getting started,” she wrote.

He referred first to the Serious Fraud Office’s six-year investigation into allegations of bribery surrounding BAE Systems’ Al-Yamama arms deal with Saudi Arabia. “He railed at British anti-corruption investigators,” wrote the ambassador, “who had the 'idiocy’ of almost scuttling the Al-Yamama deal.

“He went on to 'these (expletive) journalists, especially from the National Guardian [sic] who poke their noses everywhere and (presumably) make it harder for British businessmen to do business. “He then capped this off with a zinger: castigating 'our stupid British and American governments’ which plan at best for 10 years, whereas people in this part of the world plan for centuries.”

In her closing comments, Miss Gfoeller, who had been in her post for just six days, told Washington that the Duke had “reacted with almost neuralgic patriotism whenever any comparison between the United States and UK came up”.

Buckingham Palace refused to comment on the “private” conversation, but a senior royal source defended the Duke, saying: “He is consumed with doing the best he can for British business, and that is sometimes reflected in his colourful language.”

 

[Cigar Guy]

WikiLeaks: guilty parties 'should face death penalty'


WikiLeaks: guilty parties 'should face death penalty'

Leading US political figures have called for the death penalty to be imposed on the person who leaked sensitive documents to whistle-blower website WikiLeaks as anger intensified against those responsible for the international relations crisis.

Chief suspect Bradley Manning Photo: AFP/GETTY IMAGES

By Nick Collins 9:30AM GMT 01 Dec 2010

Former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and ex-Pentagon official KT McFarland were among those claiming the guilty party should face execution for putting national security at risk by leaking the inflammatory information.

Mr Huckabee, who is believed to be ready to renew his candidacy for the next presidential election, said responsible for the leak should be sentenced to death. He said: “They’ve put American lives at risk ... They put relationships that will take decades to rebuild at risk. They knew full well that they were handling sensitive documents, they were entrusted.

"Any lives they endangered, they’re personally responsible for and the blood is on their hands.” KT McFarland, who held national security posts under the Nixon, Ford and Reagan governments, backed the calls, saying Private Bradley Manning – the chief suspect of leaking the files – should face treason charges and possible execution.

Pvt Manning, who is in prison accused of passing a quarter of a million sensitive papers to WikiLeaks, is currently charged with transferring classified data and “delivering national defence information to an unauthorised source". Writing on the Fox News website, Ms McFarland said: "It's time to up the charges. Let's charge him and try him for treason. If he's found guilty, he should be executed."

She also called for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to face terror charges, claiming: "He’s waging cyberwar on the United States and the global world order. Mr. Assange and his fellow hackers are terrorists and should be prosecuted as such." The comments came as a former adviser to Stephen Harper, the Canadian prime minister, suggested a different solution to the international diplomatic crisis – assassinating Mr Assange.

Prof Tom Flanagan said Barack Obama should “put out a contract and maybe use a drone or something” to rid the world of Mr Assange. As the anchor on the CBC news programme warned him that his comments were “pretty harsh stuff”, Prof Flanagan responded that he was “feeling very manly today”.

He rounded off his interview by claiming the leak of the documents could "conceivably lead to war," adding: “I wouldn’t feel unhappy if Assange disappeared.” Prof Flanagan was speaking on Tuesday evening, after the second day of WikiLeaks revelations from US State Department documents.
Interpol has issued a “Red Notice” alert for Mr Assange, in relation to two rape charges issued by Swedish police.

 

[Cigar Guy]

WikiLeaks: Julian Assange plans to turn his attention to US banks


WikiLeaks: Julian Assange plans to turn his attention to US banks

Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has caused major embarrassment for both the Pentagon and US State Department, but his next target will be the private sector and an American bank in particular.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange Photo: EPA

By Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter 7:30AM GMT 30 Nov 2010

Mr Assange, 39, said he has a new set of secret documents that, when released, will trigger another Enron scandal.

"It will give a true and representative insight into how banks behave at the executive level in a way that will stimulate investigations and reforms," he told Forbes in an interview published on Monday night. "For this, there's only one similar example. It's like the Enron emails."

Mr Assange said half of the unreleased documents in his possession relate to the private sector and plans a "megaleak" about an American bank. "There will be some flagrant violations, unethical practices that will be revealed, but it will also be all the supporting decision-making structures and the internal executive ethos that comes out, and that's tremendously valuable," he said.

He said he had so much information on various companies that he had lost track, but the documents include secret BP files and other energy companies, pharmaceuticals and "spying by a major government on the tech industry. Industrial espionage." Mr Assange said that he is not ant-establishment, but that WikiLeaks aims to make "capitalism more free and ethical".

He accused President Barack Obama of trying to stifle press freedom, saying the Obama administration had a record of arresting whistle-blowers and had become "a regime that doesn't believe in the freedom of the press and doesn't act like it believes it". Mr Assange made the comments in a short mobile phone video which he filmed from a secret location in London.

He stayed out of the spotlight, in contrast to his high-profile press conferences accompanying earlier releases on his website, after being made the subject of an international arrest warrant over allegations of rape. He could be arrested and face deportation to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over claims that he assaulted two women.

Mr Assange denies the allegations and has dismissed them as part of a "smear campaign". His lawyer has said the women involved had consensual sex with Mr Assange. Sources close to the WikiLeaks founder said he had kept out of the limelight because of fears that the rape allegations would become a diversion from the leaks themselves. The US Attorney General, Eric Holder, said there was an "active and ongoing criminal investigation" into the release of classified US documents.

 

[Cigar Guy]

Sarah Palin: hunt WikiLeaks founder like al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders


Sarah Palin: hunt WikiLeaks founder like al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders

The founder of WikiLeaks should be hunted down just like al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders, according to Sarah Palin.

Sarah Palin addresses the Republican National Convention Photo: AFP/GETTY

By Martin Beckford 7:00PM GMT 30 Nov 2010

Julian Assange was branded “an anti-American operative with blood on his hands” by the prominent Republican, who asked why he has not yet been caught by the authorities.

She accused the Obama administration of “incompetence” and a “strange lack of urgency” in not stopping the release of 250,000 leaked diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks, given that it had already published sensitive information about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The former Governor of Alaska and vice-presidential nominee suggested that “cyber tools” should be used to shut down the whistle-blowing website permanently. It has twice been the subject of targeted attacks by hackers to bring it offline this week.

Mr Assange, a 39 year-old Australian former computer hacker who set up WikiLeaks in 2006, has kept out of public view since the release of the first leaked American diplomatic cables on Sunday. He has denied he has blood on his hands. Mr Assange is the subject of an international arrest warrant over allegations of rape in Sweden.

Writing on her Facebook page on Monday, Mrs Palin questioned why the US authorities were not looking for him in the same way that it had hunted suspected terrorists. “The latest round of publications of leaked classified U.S. documents through the shady organization called Wikileaks raises serious questions about the Obama administration’s incompetent handling of this whole fiasco.

“First and foremost, what steps were taken to stop Wikileaks director Julian Assange from distributing this highly sensitive classified material especially after he had already published material not once but twice in the previous months? “He is an anti-American operative with blood on his hands. His past posting of classified documents revealed the identity of more than 100 Afghan sources to the Taliban.

Why was he not pursued with the same urgency we pursue al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders?” She went on: “What if any diplomatic pressure was brought to bear on NATO, EU, and other allies to disrupt Wikileaks’ technical infrastructure? Did we use all the cyber tools at our disposal to permanently dismantle Wikileaks? Were individuals working for Wikileaks on these document leaks investigated? Shouldn’t they at least have had their financial assets frozen just as we do to individuals who provide material support for terrorist organizations?”

Mrs Palin, who is tipped to run for President in 2012, also said that “serious questions” had to be asked about how the “highly sensitive” memos from diplomats and intelligence officers could have been uploaded onto a computer memory stick and given to WikiLeaks from a supposedly secure US defence department network known as Siprnet. The prime suspect is Bradley Manning, a young private in the US Army who is now being held ahead of a court-martial.

Mrs Palin asked why the White House had not issued orders to tighten security back in July, when WikiLeaks released thousands of classified military documents on Afghanistan. “What explains this strange lack of urgency on their part?” Mrs Palin concluded: “We are at war. American soldiers are in Afghanistan fighting to protect our freedoms. They are serious about keeping America safe. It would be great if they could count on their government being equally serious about that vital task.”

Rick Santorum, another prominent conservative, agreed with her, saying: “We haven't gone after this guy, we haven't tried to prosecute him, we haven't gotten our allies to go out and lock this guy up and bring him up on terrorism charges.” The Obama administration has said that it “deeply regrets” the leaking of the embarrassing cables that have disclosed exactly what American diplomats think of foreign leaders and promised to take “aggressive steps” against those who “stole” them.

 

[Cigar Guy]

WikiLeaks: China's top foreign policy official travels to North Korea to soothe tensi


WikiLeaks: China's top foreign policy official travels to North Korea to soothe tensions

China's top foreign policy official is expected to arrive in North Korea on Wednesday to defuse concerns after WikiLeaks disclosed reports that Beijing was ready to support Korean unification.

Mr Dai was despatched to Pyongyang to press its leadership to enter regional talks Photo: EPA

By Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent 12:50AM GMT 01 Dec 2010

Dai Bingguo, the state counsellor for foreign affairs, was despatched to Pyongyang to press its leadership to enter regional talks.

Japanese reports said Mr Dai would offer reassurances over reported comments by more junior Chinese officials that Beijing would not stand in the way of reunification.

A cable from Kathleen Stephens, the US ambassador to Seoul, reported that South Korea had been told China foresaw the collapse of the North in “two to three years” after the death of Kim Jong-il.

Mr Dai has visited North Korea often. The cables also reported that he did not dare tell the North Korean leader that China was growing frustrated with its neighbour.

While Beijing has not commented on the leaks Mr Dai was expected to tell Pyongyang the reported remarks did not represent the thinking of the senior Chinese leadership.

The material has raised questions about the future of relations between China and North Korea.

 

[Cigar Guy]

WikiLeaks: US complained to Karzai over drug pardons


WikiLeaks: US complained to Karzai over drug pardons

America repeatedly complained to Hamid Karzai’s government over his presidential pardons for well-connected drug traffickers, a diplomatic cable disclosed.

By Ben Farmer in Kabul 6:00AM GMT 01 Dec 2010

Mr Karzai and his attorney general had both allowed “dangerous individuals to go free or re-enter the battlefield without ever facing an Afghan court”, it was claimed.

The release of five border policemen caught with 273lb of heroin and the dismissal of charges against the son of a wealthy supporter particularly angered the United States embassy in Kabul.

The cable, marked secret and dated Aug 6 2009, was thought to have been one of several underscoring American frustration at corruption within the Kabul regime it had propped up for nine years.

Both American and British diplomats have previously complained of Mr Karzai’s pardons for traffickers linked to his allies. They are legal under Afghan law but are considered to undermine the fight against an Afghan drug industry supplying more than 90 per cent of the world’s heroin.

The cable, which was signed by Karl Eikenberry, the ambassador, said America had complained to Afghanistan’s attorney general and a national security adviser. Mr Karzai pardoned the five policemen in April 2009 after they had been sentenced to terms of up to 18 years each. He justified their release by saying they were related to martyrs of the civil war.

He also “tampered with the narcotics case of Haji Amanullah”, the son of a wealthy supporter the cable said. “Without any constitutional authority, Karzai ordered the police to conduct a second investigation which resulted in the conclusion that the defendant had been framed.” A spokesman for Mr Karzai’s palace would not comment on the cable.

 

[Cigar Guy]

WikiLeaks: Hillary Clinton warned of undermining David Cameron


WikiLeaks: Hillary Clinton warned of undermining David Cameron

Hillary Clinton was warned by US officials that Gordon Brown and David Miliband might seek to use her to undermine David Cameron.

By Robert Winnett 6:15AM GMT 01 Dec 2010

The US Secretary of State was told she may be encouraged during a trip to London last year to speak out in favour of a “strong Europe” to highlight Conservative splits on the issue.

US embassy officials sounded the warning after Mr Cameron struggled to contain Tory anger after abandoning a pledge to hold a referendum on the new EU constitution. Mrs Clinton had a close relationship with Mr Miliband.

The leaked diplomatic cable from October 2009 says: “Ireland’s 'yes’ vote on the Lisbon Treaty has highlighted internal Conservative Party divisions on the EU as the [party] conference gets under way.

“Brown and Miliband may ask the Secretary [Clinton] to emphasise US support for a 'strong Europe’ as a way to highlight Conservative schisms.”

The document also advises Washington officials that Labour has been using Britain’s role in the EU as an “example of Conservative economic and foreign policy 'isolationist’ tendencies”.

 

[Cigar Guy]

US ambassador unimpressed by food at oligarch Alexander Mashkevich's house


US ambassador unimpressed by food at oligarch Alexander Mashkevich's house

The billionaire co-founder of Eurasian Natural Resources Corp (ENRC) has found himself on the sharp end of a US ambassador's tongue over the quality of his food.

Wikileaks revealed that the official posted to Kazakhstan was displeased by four dinners at the house of Alexander Mashkevich

By Rowena Mason 6:40AM GMT 01 Dec 2010

US diplomatic documents published by Wikileaks reveal that the official posted to Kazakhstan was displeased by four dinners at the house of Alexander Mashkevich, who the Forbes Rich List estimates is worth $3.3bn (£2.1bn).

"It is not clear what Mashkevich is spending his billions on, but it is certainly not culinary talent," said the report sent back to Washington in April 2008.

"On all four occasions the Ambassador has eaten at one of his houses, the menu has been similar and focused on beshparmak [boiled meat and noodles] and plov. The wait staff appeared to be graduates of a Soviet cafeteria training academy.

"The wine, at least, was somewhat upscale with reasonably good French vintage bottles uncorked for the guests. The Astana residence has wooden plaques on the doors that would fit in nicely in a Wyoming hunting lodge but are somewhat out of touch with the upscale 'Euro-remont' that is so popular among the Kazakhstani elite."

The billionaire is one of three powerful Kazakh businessmen known as the "Trio" who control 44pc of ENRC, which is listed in the FTSE-100. Mr Mashkevich was unavailable for comment.

 

[Cigar Guy]

WikiLeaks: Gordon Brown cut submarines 'to save money'


WikiLeaks: Gordon Brown cut submarines 'to save money'

Gordon Brown’s offer to cut Britain’s fleet of nuclear-armed submarines was made to save money, the US ambassador in London suggested.

By James Kirkup 7:00AM GMT 01 Dec 2010

Louis Susman’s assessment was made in a secret cable sent to the US state department in October last year. The message was meant to provide background for a visit to London by Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, a few days later.

Among the “key issues” Mr Susman identified was the then-prime minister’s willingness to reduce Britain’s nuclear stockpile and encourage other countries to give up their nuclear programmes.

The ambassador highlighted an announcement by Mr Brown earlier last year in which he said that the number of submarines carrying nuclear missiles could be reduced.

“Subject to the sustained ability to maintain continuous deterrence, the UK will consider reducing its fleet of Trident nuclear-armed submarines from four to three,” Mr Susman wrote. He added: “The move also is regarded as a cost-cutting measure for a government facing significant fiscal challenges in the coming years.”

The Coalition has given a similar signal, with the proviso that the smaller fleet would only be delivered if it were shown that the next generation of submarines was reliable enough to remove the need to have a “spare” vessel on constant standby. The Government set out its plans to slim down Britain’s nuclear deterrent in a defence review in October.

There are currently four Vanguard subs, each carrying 48 warheads. The review suggested that this figure be cut to 40. Vanguards would also carry no more than eight missiles, able to carry several warheads. The reductions will allow Britain to reduce the upper limit on its nuclear warhead stockpile from 225 to 180. The total number of “operationally available” warheads will fall from 160 to “no more than 120”.

Despite the ambassador’s concern about cuts to Britain’s nuclear deterrent, the cable described Mr Brown as a close US ally on the issues of nuclear non-proliferation and preventing Iran developing a nuclear weapon.

In meetings at the United Nations, Mr Brown “emphasised that the onus was on non-nuclear states to prove they were not developing nuclear weapons”, Mr Susman wrote. Mr Brown had also “pledged the UK’s support for sponsoring a uranium bank and offering civil nuclear power to non-nuclear states that fulfil their responsibilities”, he added.

 

[Cigar Guy]

WikiLeaks: recession reduced British-US trade by quarter


WikiLeaks: recession reduced British-US trade by quarter

The global recession reduced trade between the United States and Britain by up to a quarter, one of the leaked cables has disclosed.

By Holly Watt 7:30AM GMT 01 Dec 2010

British exports to America fell by more than 25 per cent while American exports to Britain fell by a fifth, according to analysis by Louis Susman, the US ambassador to London, in October last year.

The analysis of the dramatic fall in trade was part of a briefing for Hillary Clinton, the Secretary of State, before her visit to Britain. “The economic downturn is taking a heavy toll on trade,” wrote Mr Susman, who had then been in the position for six months.

Mr Susman graphically describes Britain’s economic struggles at the end of 2009, and notes that the economy is likely to affect the general election, which was then six months away.

“How to manage and finance the UK’s debt burden is a key issue dividing the two parties, and is expected to emerge as one of the top economic issues during the political campaign,” Mr Susman advised Mrs Clinton.

By the end of 2009, the fall in trade meant that sales of American products to Britain fell by 21.7 per cent, while British sales to the US declined by 25.6 per cent.

Mr Susman also noted that Britain’s debt was at “its highest level since records began in 1974”, while unemployment was at “its highest since 1995”. He added that unemployment was “particularly acute among 18-to-24-year-olds”.

 

[wahlaneh]

Re: WikiLeaks: recession reduced British-US trade by quarter

wahlaneh...
is there a link to the website?
i wana go in read for myself leh.

 

[Cigar Guy]

WikiLeaks: Kuwait wanted Gitmo detainees to be 'killed in combat'


WikiLeaks: Kuwait wanted Gitmo detainees to be 'killed in combat'

The Kuwaiti government privately urged the Americans to return Guantánamo detainees to Afghanistan so they could be “killed in combat”.

By Robert Winnett 8:25AM GMT 01 Dec 2010

A leaked diplomatic cable discloses that the Kuwaiti interior minister resisted US pressure for the country to establish a “rehabilitation centre” for terror suspects, saying that they were “rotten” and “the best thing to do is get rid of them”.

The hardline view emerged in a private meeting between US and Kuwaiti officials in February 2009. During the meeting, the US ambassador suggested that Kuwait follow Saudi Arabia’s example and attempt to rehabilitate terrorist suspects.

Shaykh Jaber al-Khalid Al Sabah, the Kuwaiti interior minister, is said to have replied: “I can talk to you into next week about building a rehabilitation centre, but it won’t happen. We are not Saudi Arabia; we cannot isolate these people in desert camps or anywhere on an island. We cannot compel them to stay. If they are rotten, they are rotten and the best thing to do is get rid of them.

“You picked them up in Afghanistan; you should drop them off in Afghanistan, in the middle of the war zone.” The officials also discussed the plight of a Kuwaiti suspect who had been returned to Kuwait by the Americans. The cable states: “Kuwait’s record had been tarnished by the example of former GTMO [Guantánamo] detainee al-Ajmi, who’d allegedly blown himself up in Mosul [in Iraq] following his release to the Kuwaiti authorities.”

The Government has agreed to pay millions of pounds in compensation to British citizens who were released from Guantánamo. Kuwaiti officials also advocated allowing drug smugglers caught off the coast to drown. “God wished to punish them for smuggling drugs by drowning them,” the minister said, allegedly “smiling broadly”.

 

[Cigar Guy]

Wikileaks: Pakistan privately approved drone strikes


Wikileaks: Pakistan privately approved drone strikes

US special forces fought side by side with Pakistani soldiers and the government in Islamabad privately approved drone strikes while publicly condemning the CIA's covert raids, according to the Wikileaks diplomatic cables

An unmanned predator aerial vehicle with a hellfire missile attached Photo: EPA

Rob Crilly in Islamabad 9:43AM GMT 01 Dec 2010

The revelations of America's secret war in Pakistan will deeply embarrass President Asif Ali Zardari who has long denied such deep co-operation with Washington for fear it would embolden Islamist opposition to his feeble government.

In public, both sides have described putting American boots on the ground as a red line issue.

However, a cable sent by the then US Ambassador to Islamabad, Anne Patterson, states that Pakistan has twice requested American soldiers to embed with its Frontier Corps in North Waziristan and South Waziristan, areas dotted with Taliban and al-Qaeda bases.

On both occasions Pakistan asked for the help of US special forces to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance – including video footage from drones – to its troops. On one mission they helped the Pakistani soldiers target an enemy base with artillery.

"These deployments are highly politically sensitive because of widely-held concerns among the public about Pakistani sovereignty and opposition to allowing foreign military forces to operate in any fashion on Pakistani soil," she wrote.

"Should these developments and/or related matters receive any coverage in the Pakistani or US media, the Pakistani military will likely stop making requests for such assistance." A second cable describes a 2008 meeting with Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, Pakistani prime minister, in which he brushes aside concerns about the use of Predator drones against targets in the tribal areas and gives an insight into how he would deny any co-operation.

"I don't care if they do it as long as they get the right people. We'll protest in the National Assembly and then ignore it," he told Ms Patterson. There have been more than 100 drone strikes so far this year as the Obama administration steps up its covert use of Predators in the skies over Pakistan. Publicly, Pakistan has insisted the strikes are "unhelpful" while America has refused to confirm the existence of the CIA programme, despite the visibility of strikes.

The secrecy has spawned a generation of conspiracy theorists and provided the local media with countless stories of CIA plots, US border incursions and Blackwater operatives at large. Hasan Askari Rizvi, a Pakistani analyst, said the latest revelations would be deeply damaging to a government which lacked the strength to articulate its true relationship with Washington, for fear of angering the country's hardliners.

"There is no doubt this will fuel anti-Americanism and will encourage the Islamists and the conspiracy theorists," he said. The Pakistani government has dismissed the Wikileaks claims. A spokesman for Mr Gilani said: "Our Prime Minister has made a very clear statement questioning the authenticity of these documents. There's nothing more to say."

 

[wahlaneh]

wahlaneh...
any leak about WWI & WWII?

 

[Cigar Guy]

Wikileaks: Nick Clegg reassures Hillary Clinton over special relationship


Wikileaks: Nick Clegg reassures Hillary Clinton over special relationship

Britain has assured the US hat the leak of 250,000 secret documents to whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks will not affect the ''uniquely strong relationship'' between the countries.

10:11AM GMT 01 Dec 2010

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg gave the assurance to US secretary of state Hillary Clinton as the pair met at a summit of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Kazakhstan.

The disclosure of the US State Department documents has caused embarrassment in both London and Washington, exposing candid - and sometimes unflattering - assessments of British politicians passed on by US diplomats.

Today's tranche of documents reveal that the US embassy reported back to Washington on the governor of the Bank of England's pre-election concerns about David Cameron and George Osborne's lack of experience and on Tory insiders' fear that the then-shadow chancellor was seen as ''lightweight''.

The cables also revealed that a Liberal Democrat plan to attack Mr Cameron as ''fake'' and ''out of touch'' during the election campaign was dropped after the death of his child Ivan. Following his discussion with Mrs Clinton in the Kazakh capital Astana today, Mr Clegg said: ''We discussed a wide range of issues, including Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Middle East peace process and Sudan.

''I made clear to Secretary Clinton that recent Wikileaks disclosures would not affect our uniquely strong relationship. UK-US co-operation will continue with the same depth and closeness as before. ''I also took the opportunity to raise the case of Shaker Aamer, the last remaining British resident detained in Guantanamo Bay. I stressed the importance to the UK of early movement on his case.''

 

[Cigar Guy]

WikiLeaks: Pakistan continues to support Mumbai terror attack group


WikiLeaks: Pakistan continues to support Mumbai terror attack group

Pakistan continues to support the militant group which carried out the 2008 terrorist attacks on Mumbai despite its claims to have launched a crackdown on the organisation, the United States Ambassador to Islamabad wrote in a cable.

Ten Lashkar e Taiba 'fedayeen' commandos killed 166 in a three day attack on Mumbai in 2008 Photo: PA

By Dean Nelson, New Delhi 5:49PM GMT 01 Dec 2010

In a review of Washington's strategy on Pakistan and Afghanistan, its ambassador to Islamabad, Anne Patterson, said Pakistan was supporting four militant groups, including the Taliban's Haqqani network and the Lashkar e Taiba (LeT) terror group, and could not be persuaded to abandon them.

The Haqqani network is based in North Waziristan, from where it launches attacks on Nato forces over the border in Afghanistan. The LeT has been nurtured by Pakistan's ISI intelligence service to carry out proxy attacks on India to put pressure on New Delhi to negotiate the future of Kashmir.

Pakistan has denied Indian claims that elements in its security forces trained and funded the ten Lashkar e Taiba 'fedayeen' commandos who killed 166 in their three day attack on Mumbai in 2008. Under international pressure following the attack it arrested several senior LeT leaders and put its founder Hafiz Saeed under house arrest.

But in a cable to Washington in September last year, the ambassador said "no amount of money" could persuade Islamabad to turn its back on these terrorist groups. "There is no chance that Pakistan will view enhanced assistance levels in any field as sufficient compensation for abandoning support to these groups, which it sees as an important part of its national security apparatus against India.

The only way to achieve a cessation of such support is to change the Pakistan government's own perception of its security requirements," she wrote. She said Washington should reconsider its support for Indian aid in Afghanistan which causes anxiety within Pakistan's military and reinforces its relationship with terrorist groups. "It is the perception of India as the primary threat to the Pakistani state that colors its perceptions of the conflict in Afghanistan and Pakistan's security needs.

The Pakistani establishment fears a pro-India government in Afghanistan would allow India to operate a proxy war against Pakistan from its territory. Justified or not, increased Indian investment in, trade with, and development support to the Afghan government, which the USG [United States Government] has encouraged, causes Pakistan to embrace Taliban groups all the more closely as anti-India allies.

We need to reassess Indian involvement in Afghanistan and our own policies towards India, including the growing military relationship through sizeable conventional arms sales, as all of this feeds Pakistani establishment paranoia and pushes them closer to both Afghan and Kashmir-focused terrorist groups while reinforcing doubts about U.S. intentions," she wrote.

The United States should also consider new initiatives on resolving the Kashmir dispute which she said was "at the core of Pakistan's support for terrorist groups." B. Raman, an Indian security analyst and former official in India's Research and Analysis Wing intelligence agency, said the cables disclosed by WikiLeaks had only confirmed what India already knew.

"It is a known fact that Pakistan is behind the LeT. It was created by the ISI. The WikiLeaks cables show that Pakistan's policy is to help the Americans where they have to and to continue using terrorists against India. That continues," he said. The Pakistan government has previously denied it now supports Lashkar-e-Taiba.