WikiLeaks blames US stance on Julian Assange for Libyan embassy attack
WikiLeaks has sparked outrage by suggesting the Libyan embassy was attacked because the US gave tacit approval to British threats to storm the Ecuadorian embassy and remove Julian Assange.
WikiLeaks claimed that the US gave tacit approval to British threats to remove Julian Assange from the Ecuadorean embassy Photo: Justin Griffiths-Williams/REX
By Rosa Silverman
11:46AM BST 13 Sep 2012
WikiLeaks has sparked outrage after suggesting the Libyan embassy was attacked because the US had backed Britain's threat to storm the Ecuadorian embassy in London and remove Julian Assange.
The website issued a tweet suggesting that America had given 'tacit approval' to the threats from the Foreign Office. At the time the FCO was warned that if they removed Assange it would jeopordise its own diplomatic rights in other countries.
However the tweet, which was quickly removed, was criticised by Jemima Khan as 'absurd and shockingly offensive.' The whistleblowers made the controversial remark on Twitter following the death of the US ambassador to Libya in protests this week.
The tweet was later deleted but was reproduced in the New Statesman and retweeted by others. It said: “By the US accepting the UK siege on the Ecuadorian embassy in London it gave tacit approval for attacks on embassies around the world.”
WikiLeaks replaced the tweet with a different version saying: “By the US accepting the UK threat to storm the Ecuadorian embassy in London it helped to normalize attacks on embassies.” This was followed by a tweet saying: “By the UK threatening to breach the Ecuadorian embassy in London it helped to normalize attacks on embassies, in general. It must retract.”
Then came an explanation of why the original tweet had been deleted. “We have deleted and rephrased a previous tweet with the word 'tacit' in it, since the word is rare and was being misinterpreted,” it said. The original tweet drew criticism from followers on the social media site.
Khan, one of the high profile figures who have lent their backing to Mr Assange, wrote: “That last @wikileaks tweet manages to be both absurd and shockingly offensive & I say that as a wikileaks supporter.” Others were equally scathing.
Jos Bell wrote: “So under cover of misinterpretation @wikileaks gives tacit approval to its own deletion.” Mark Wallace tweeted: “No, @wikileaks, we all know what ‘tacit’ means. It’s not a ‘rare word’!”
The deleted WikiLeaks tweet referred to the move by the British authorities to step up the police presence around the Ecuadorian Embassy in London last month and their warning that they could use a rarely-cited law to withdraw its diplomatic protection.
This would have allowed officers to go inside and arrest Mr Assange, who is facing extradition to Sweden over alleged sex crimes but has claimed political asylum at the Knightsbridge embassy. The Australian whistleblower has been accused of raping and sexually assaulting two women on a visit to Sweden where he was promoting his WikiLeaks website.
American ambassador Chris Stevens, 52, was killed in an attack on the US consulate in Libya’s eastern coastal city of Benghazi on Tuesday night. A second diplomat, Sean Smith, and two other US officials were also killed in the raid, which came on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
Despite initial suggestions that the building was burned down during a protest against a film ridiculing the Prophet Mohammed, witnesses said that was sidelined when a large gang up to 200-strong arrived armed with guns and rocket-propelled grenades, and started firing.
