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London/Washington: Whistleblower website WikiLeaks is
set to release some three million documents online, and some of
these could potentially damage the US relations with many
countries, including Britain and India, according to reports
Saturday.
It is not known what the documents are about, or whether India is
mentioned. But State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said, "We
have reached out to India to warn them about a possible release of
documents."
"We do not know precisely what WikiLeaks has or what it plans to
do. We have made our position clear. These documents should not be
released," Crowley said.
But in London the Daily Mail reported that among the documents
about to be released are secret papers related to the US
assessments of then British premier Gordon Brown's personality and
his prospects of winning the general election.
Anticipating damages, British Prime Minister David Cameron was
warned Friday night by the US that secrets of the "special
relationship" are about to be laid bare, the Daily Mail said.
The US ambassador to London, Louis Susman Friday night made an
unprecedented personal visit to Downing Street to warn that
WikiLeaks is about to publish secret assessments of what
Washington really thinks of Britain.
The website is on the verge of revealing almost three million
documents, including thousands of sensitive diplomatic cables sent
to Washington from the American embassy in London, according to
the Daily Mail.
The bombshell leak is thought to include US assessments of Gordon
Brown's personality and his prospects of winning the General
Election, and secret discussions on the return of the Lockerbie
bomber to Libya.
Assessments of David Cameron's election chances and his private
assurances to US officials may also be included, government
sources believe.
They fear they will emerge Sunday in coordinated releases in
newspapers in Britain, Germany and America.
The British government is so worried that Friday night it issued a
D-Notice, warning that publishing the secrets could compromise
national security.
The website has previously released secret details of allied
military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In total, around 2.7 million confidential messages between the US
government and its embassies around the world are to be released.
The US State Department warned that the leaks would damage the US
relationships around the world.
Crowley said: "These revelations are harmful to the US and our
interests. They are going to create tension in relationships
between our diplomats and our friends around the world."
Besides Britain and India, the US has warned the governments of
Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway and Israel in advance of the
release.
It has been claimed that a backlash by countries upset over the
leaks may lead to US diplomats being expelled.
According to the Britain-based Arabic daily newspaper al-Hayat,
the WikiLeaks release includes documents that show Turkey has
helped Al Qaeda in Iraq - an extraordinary revelation which could
kill off the country's hopes of joining the EU.
The Washington Post reported that the files will contain
allegations that the US has supported the PKK, a Kurdish rebel
organisation that has been waging a separatist war against Turkey
since 1984.
The US says it has known for some time that WikiLeaks held the
cables.
No one has been charged with passing them to the website, but
suspicion focuses on Bradley Manning, an intelligence analyst
arrested in Iraq in June and charged over an earlier leak.
A 10, Downing Street spokesman Saturday declined to discuss the
nature of any confidential communications which may have been
obtained by WikiLeaks.
But he said: "Obviously, the government has been briefed by US
officials, by the US ambassador, as to the likely content of these
leaks."
"I don't want to speculate about precisely what is going to be
leaked before it is leaked."
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