WikiLeaks has made waves again after its latest highly sensitive disclosures of secret cables sent to and from US embassies abroad.

From humble beginnings, the whistleblowing website has grown to become a thorn in the side of a number of governments and organisations.

Last month, it released almost 400,000 documents related to events in Iraq after the 2003 invasion.

That came two months after it posted around 90,000 secret files about US military activities during the war in Afghanistan.

Last year the site also published a list of names and addresses of people said to belong to the far-right British National Party. And it published a copy of the Standard Operating Procedures for Camp Delta, which detailed restrictions placed on prisoners at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

The not-for-profit group was founded in 2007 by Australian Julian Assange, with a mission statement of bringing important news and information to the public. Its website states its modus operandi is to provide an “innovative, secure and anonymous way for sources to leak information to our journalists”.

During a debate in London last month, Mr Assange said: “We do not have a goal of having innocent people being harmed. We have exactly the opposite goal. Our goal is to have those people protected.”

He added: “We don’t maintain a philosophy of publish and be damned. Rather, we maintain a philosophy of trying to achieve justice.”

The website has come in for criticism for endangering the lives of soldiers and citizens of the US and its allies.

Mr Assange even published a document said to be from the US intelligence services, claiming that it represented a “threat to the US Army”.

Anyone can submit to WikiLeaks, but a team of journalists – ­­bothvolunteers and website staff – decides what is published.

It is operated by an organisation known as the Sunshine Press and claims to be supported by a “network of dedicated volunteers around the globe”. Since the website first appeared on the net, it has faced a number of legal challenges to take it offline. It also claims to have been subject to cyber attack.

WikiLeaks fallout

No peace with ‘right of return’ ­ – Netanyahu

The Palestinians will not be a partner for peace until they drop demands for the “right of return,” Benjamin Netanyahu said two years before being elected premier, according to the leaked US cables.

Details of his remarks were catalogued in a diplomatic cable sent by the then US ambassador Richard H. Jones in April 2007 when Mr Netanyahu was leader of the opposition.

Chechen leader showers friends with gold

Ramzan Kadyrov, the strongman leader of Chechnya, appears at parties sporting a gold-plated automatic gun and showers friends with mounds of gold, leaked US diplomatic cables showed.

A WikiLeaks publication of a cable sent to Washington by the US deputy chief of mission in Moscow describes a wedding attended by Mr Kadyrov in the Russian North Caucasus republic of Dagestan.

Mr Kadyrov at one point is described dancing “clumsily with his gold-plated automatic stuck down in the back of his jeans.”

Zardari obstacle to Pakistani progress ­– Saudi king

The Saudi king considers President Asif Ali Zardari the greatest obstacle to progress in Pakistan, according to scathing comments reported by the New York Times.

“When the head is rotten it affects the whole body,” King Abdullah was quoted as saying. Mr Zardari is deeply unpopular at home. Tainted by corruption allegations and nicknamed “Mr 10 Per cent,” he spent 11 years in jail on charges ranging from corruption to murder, but has never been convicted.

His spokesman yesterday dismissed the reported insult from one of Pakistan’s closest allies.

Iranian diplomats to Iraq vetted byUS embassy

Iranians applying for diplomatic visas to Iraq were vetted by the US embassy in Baghdad for as long as 16 months before their application was decided upon, according to document.

The diplomatic cable said that American vetting showed a fifth of applicants had possible ties to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps or its ministry of intelligence.

“Since 2008, the MFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) has passed names of Iranians applying for diplomatic visas to the US Embassy for vetting,” the cable, dated April 2009 and sent from the US embassy in Baghdad, said.

Release of cables ‘very unhelpful’ – Iraqi minister

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari criticised the release of confidential US diplo­-matic cables as “very, very unhelpful”.

“We are going through a critical time (in Iraq), trying to form the long-awaited government. We hope it will not poison the overall atmosphere among Iraqi politicians and Iraqi leaders.”

The cables related to Iraq so far paint a picture of US interest in Iranian involvement in Iraq, from alleged support of Iraqi political parties by Tehran to perceived attempts by the Islamic republic to undermine Iraq’s economy.

Australia vows to back the US in any legal action

Australia said yesterday it would support the US in any legal action against WikiLeaks.

Attorney-General Robert Mc-Clelland said WikiLeak’s publication of diplomatic US memos could harm the national security interests of the US and its allies, including Australia, as well as “prejudice the safety” of those they discussed.

Asked whether WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange was Australia’s most wanted man, Mr McClelland said: “The US authorities are looking at law enforcement actions as the lead country, and we are providing every assistance and could be expected to provide every assistance.”

Russia puts brave face on damning US assessments

Russia yesterday tried to play down the release of confidential US cables reportedly calling the country “a virtual mafia state” that is ruled by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and not the president.

Russian officials scrambled for a diplomatic response after the whistleblower website published eight cables dealing with Russia and released further material to Western newspapers and magazines.

Some of the most damaging material concerned characterisations of Russia and its leaders that US officials would never speak publicly, but which are common currency among commentators and analysts.

The US embassy reportedly referred to Mr Putin as an “alpha dog” who made all the decisions in the Russian President’s place. It vividly added that Mr Medvedev simply “plays Robin to Putin’s Batman” in a reference to the comic heroes.

Berlusconi leaks are only ‘gossip’ ­– Italian minister

Italian Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa yesterday said WikiLeaks’ revelations criticising Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s leadership and lifestyle were “feeble rumours” of little importance.

“The information should have remained private... to my surprise, it seems straight out of gossip magazines,” Mr La Russa said in an interview with Corriere della Sera daily.

“Whether because the revelations are second-rate or because they were supposed to be kept secret, I don’t think we should attach any great importance to them,” he added.

In the whistleblower website, Elizabeth Dibble, US charge d’affaires in Rome, described 74-year-old Mr Berlusconi as “feckless, vain, and ineffective as a modern European leader”.

Another document from Rome reported that Mr Berlusconi was a “physically and politically weak” leader whose “frequent late nights and penchant for partying hard mean he does not get sufficient rest.”