WikiLeaks yesterday unleashed a torrent of US cables detailing a wide array of potentially explosive diplomatic episodes, from a tense nuclear standoff with Pakistan to Saudi Arabia’s King repeatedly suggesting bombing Iran, the New York Times reported.
The cables describe the bazaar-like bargaining over the repatriation of Guantanamo Bay detainees, a Chinese government bid to hack into Google, and quote Saudi King Abdullah as saying the US should strike Iran to halt its nuclear programme, telling it to “cut off the head of the snake.”
They also detail plans to reunite the Korean peninsula after the North’s eventual collapse, according to The New York Times, one of a handful of international media outlets that gained early access to the documents.
The cables also detail fresh suspicions about Afghan corruption, Saudi donors financing Al-Qaeda, and the US failure to prevent Syria from providing a massive stockpile of weapons to the Lebanese Hizbollah militia since 2006.
The whistle-blower website’s chief Julian Assange had earlier described the release as a “diplomatic history of the United States” that would cover “every major issue” as governments braced for damaging revelations.
“We can see already in the past week or so that the United States has made movements to try to disarm the effect that this could have,” he said.
Sweden recently issued an international warrant for Mr Assange’s arrest, saying he is wanted for questioning over allegations of rape and sexual molestation.
According to US documents leaked by WikiLeaks and cited by the New York Times yesterday US intelligence believes Iran has obtained advanced missiles from North Korea capable of striking Europe,.
The newspaper, in a diplomatic cable dated February 24, said “secret American intelligence assessments have concluded that Iran has obtained a cache of advanced missiles, based on a Russian design.”
Iran obtained 19 of the N. Korean missiles, an improved version of Russia’s R-27, from N. Korea, the cable said, and was “taking pains to master the technology in an attempt to build a new generation of missiles.”
At the request of US President Barack Obama’s administration, the New York Times said it had agreed not to publish the text of that cable.
The leaks include closed-door remarks that could stoke scandal, including Yemen’s President telling a top US general: “We’ll continue saying the bombs are ours, not yours” when discussing secretive US strikes on Al-Qaeda in his country, and a description of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi as always being attended by a “voluptuous blonde” Ukrainian nurse.
Most of the 251,287 cables – many of which are marked “classified” but none “top secret” – date back to 2007, but the release also includes cables going back as far as 1966, The New York Times said. The White House slammed the release of the files as a “reckless and dangerous action” that puts lives at risk around the world.
“To be clear – such disclosures put at risk our diplomats, intelligence professionals, and people around the world who come to the United States for assistance in promoting democracy and open government,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said in a statement.
The Pentagon, which was infuriated by the website’s publication of secret Afghanistan and Iraq war logs earlier this year, also condemned the latest release and unveiled new steps designed to prevent future disclosures.