WikiLeaks news compilation

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WikiLeaks: Amazon stops hosting website publishing leaked US diplomatic documents


WikiLeaks: Amazon stops hosting website publishing leaked US diplomatic documents

WikiLeaks, the website that has published leaked US embassy documents, has been dropped by the server Amazon following apparent pressure from the US government.

Amazon is a major provider of Web-hosting services, renting out space on its computer servers to customers around the world Photo: CORBIS

By Laura Roberts 10:00PM GMT 01 Dec 2010

Following calls from senators for a boycott of WikiLeaks by US companies neither the main website or the sub-site which is dedicated to the released diplomatic cables were available to internet users in the US or Europe on Wednesday due to a refusal by Amazon servers to acknowledge data requests.

Joe Lieberman, a senator and chairman of the homeland security committee, said: "[Amazon's] decision to cut off WikiLeaks now is the right decision and should set the standard for other companies WikiLeaks is using to distribute its illegally seized material," he said. "I call on any other company or organisation that is hosting WikiLeaks to immediately terminate its relationship with them."

WikiLeaks tweeted in response: "WikiLeaks servers at Amazon ousted. Free speech the land of the free – fine our $ are now spent to employ people in Europe." WikiLeaks is under U.S. criminal investigation for the release.
Amazon, widely known for its retail site, is also a major provider of Web-hosting services, renting out space on its computer servers to customers around the world.

Amazon.com would not comment on its relationship with WikiLeaks or whether it forced the site to leave. The leaking of confidential and sensitive diplomatic documents has been met with outrage and anger in some parts of the US. There have been calls in the US for the death penalty to be imposed on the person who leaked documents to the WikiLeaks. At present Private Bradley Manning is in custody as the chief suspect in the inquiry.

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. Meanwhile Sarah Palin, who is tipped to run for the American presidency in 2012, has called for Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, to be hunted down "with the same urgency we pursue al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders".

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: US special forces in northern Pakistan


WikiLeaks: US special forces in northern Pakistan

US special forces are secretly operating in tribal areas of northern Pakistan to help flush out Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters, leaked cables disclose.

By Dean Nelson 10:30PM GMT 01 Dec 2010

The 16 US soldiers embedded with the Pakistani armed forces have also helped coordinate missile strikes by unmanned drone aircraft.

Permission for the combat role had “almost certainly” come with the personal endorsement of Gen Ashfaq Kayani, the head of the Pakistani army.

 

[Cigar Guy]

WikiLeaks: France has not integrated its minorities


WikiLeaks: France has not integrated its minorities

France has not done enough to integrate its ethnic and religious minorities and needs to give Muslims a place in mainstream society, U.S. diplomats said in leaked cables published on Wednesday by a French newspaper.

Vehicles and buildings were torched in 2005 by youths in largely immigrant areas who began rampaging after two of their peers were electrocuted at a power substation while hiding from police they feared were chasing them Photo: AP

11:05PM GMT 01 Dec 2010

Comments in diplomatic cables released by whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks and published by the daily Le Monde show frustration over France's record in assimilating minority groups and highlight concerns the problem could be deepening.

"France not only has a problem with integration or immigration; it also needs to act to give Muslims a sense of French identity," the U.S. embassy in Paris said in a secret diplomatic cable to Washington dated Aug. 17, 2005.

The comments foreshadowed a wave of violent clashes in December that year between youths, many of them second-generation immigrants, and police in the gritty suburban housing projects that ring major French cities.

Television footage of burning cars and rioting youths was beamed around the world, casting a spotlight on tension between the French government and descendants of immigrant groups, many of whom belonged to France's 5-million-strong Muslim community.

"The real problem is the failure of white Christian France to view its dark-skinned and Muslim compatriots as citizens in their own right," the U.S. embassy told Washington in a cable dated Nov. 9, 2005. Craig Stapleton was U.S. ambassador to France under the administration of President George W. Bush.

A succession of WikiLeaks releases has exposed the inner workings of U.S. diplomacy and revealed at times frank views of foreign leaders, prompting charges of irresponsibility from countries including France. The cables published by Le Monde date back to mid-2005 and cover the presidencies of both Mr Bush and Barack Obama, but there is little variation in U.S. attitudes toward France and its policies on immigrants and minorities.

"French institutions appear insufficiently flexible for a population that is growing more diverse," said a cable from Jan. 2010. Charles Rivkin is currently U.S. ambassador to France. President Nicolas Sarkozy pledged to smooth relations with descendants of immigrants when he came to power in 2007. He renamed the immigration ministry to add the words "national identity" and encouraged debate on what it meant to be French.

His efforts did not hold up. In the wake of controversy over his expulsion of Roma migrants last summer, the immigration ministry was absorbed into the interior ministry and Sarkozy said efforts to promote national identity had been "misunderstood". U.S. diplomats said in the cables that France would suffer if it failed to build closer ties with minorities.

"We believe that if France, over the long term, does not succeed in improving prospects for its minorities and give them true political representation, it could become weaker, more divided and perhaps inclined toward crises ... and a less effective ally as a result," said the cable from Jan. 2010.

 

[Cigar Guy]

WikiLeaks: US 'allowed to keep cluster bombs on British soil'


WikiLeaks: US 'allowed to keep cluster bombs on British soil'

Britain and America colluded to allow the United States to keep banned cluster bombs on British soil in defiance of an international treaty, leaked diplomatic cables disclosed.

By Peter Hutchison 6:30AM GMT 02 Dec 2010

David Miliband, then Foreign Secretary, approved the use of a loophole to get around the convention that bans the weapons to permit the US to keep the weapons on British territory. In 2008 Gordon Brown supported an international effort to ban cluster bombs and Britain subsequently signed a treaty.

America refused, however, insisting they were “legitimate” weapons. The US had stockpiles of cluster bombs at British bases in the Indian Ocean and intended to keep them, regardless of Britain signing the treaty.

A leaked cable from May last year disclosed that the two governments created the idea of “allowing US forces to store their cluster weapons as 'temporary exceptions’ and on a 'case-by-case’ basis for specific military operations", The Guardian reported.

The “temporary exception” allowed the US to keep cluster munitions on the Diego Garcia airbase which the US uses for military operations in the Middle East. This was despite British foreign ministers insisting that all US cluster munitions would leave British soil by 2013.

In the leaked dispatch Nicholas Pickard, head of the Foreign Office’s security policy unit, is quoted as saying: “It would be better for the US government and HMG [the British government] not to reach final agreement on this temporary agreement understanding until after the [treaty] ratification process is completed in parliament, so that they can tell parliamentarians that they have requested the US government to remove its cluster munitions by 2013, without complicating/muddying the debate by having to indicate that this request is open to exceptions.”

 

[Cigar Guy]

WikiLeaks: Putin's 'secret billions'


WikiLeaks: Putin's 'secret billions'

Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, has secret “illicit” assets hidden outside his country, according to allegations contained in reports from Condoleezza Rice, the former US secretary of state, disclosed in the latest batch of Wikileaks cables.

One estimate puts Putin's personal fortune at £25 billion Photo: Reuters / Vostock-Photo

By Andy Bloxham 6:00AM GMT 02 Dec 2010

Ms Rice said she had been told by opposition figures in Russia that Mr Putin had attempted to engineer a safe transition when he stepped down as president in 2008 because he wanted to avoid “law enforcement investigations”.

The cable recorded a conversation between David Kramar, then the US deputy assistant secretary of state for Eurasian affairs, and an unidentified opposition leader during a visit to Washington. Mr Kramar was told that Mr Putin was “nervously seeking to secure his future immunity from potential law enforcement investigations into his alleged illicit proceeds”.

The most likely candidate to take over from him was Sergei Ivanov, a charming, polyglot former KGB officer, who had experience of dealing with the west. However, the eventual successor, and incumbent, was Dmitry Medvedev, who was described in other leaked cables as the “Robin to Putin’s Batman”.

Cables linked Mr Putin’s wealth to a “secretive Swiss-based oil trading firm” called Gunvor. John Beyrle, the US ambassador to Moscow, said close connections existed between the firm and the Russian government and reported “its secretive ownership is rumoured to include prime minister Putin”.

Mr Putin has previously faced speculation about the extent and source of his wealth. One estimate put his personal fortune at £25billion. Critics of the president have claimed he is Europe’s richest man. However, Gunvor has totally refuted the existence of any links between them and Mr Putin, and the politician has rubbished reports of a vast secret fortune wealth.

A spokesman for Gunvor has said: “It is plain wrong to state that [then] President Putin owns any part of Gunvor or is a beneficiary of its activities.”
Mr Putin said the reports of his wealth were “rubbish picked out of someone’s nose and smeared on bits of paper”.

 

[Cigar Guy]

WikiLeaks release: Why law is powerless to stop WikiLeaks from publishing


WikiLeaks release: Why law is powerless to stop WikiLeaks from publishing

The structure of WikiLeaks makes it practically impossible for governments and other organisations embarrassed by its disclosures to make legal challenges against it.

PRQ, a Swedish internet hosting company linked to the file-sharing website The Pirate Bay, has said it provides Wikileaks with server space from a base in the Stockholm suburbs Photo: EPA

By Jon Swaine in New York 10:38PM GMT 22 Nov 2010

Many of the documents published on the site are classified or protected by copyright. Ordinarily the original owners would attempt to have them removed.

However, Wikileaks hosts its publications across several different servers, which “are distributed over multiple international jurisdictions and do not keep logs” that could be seized, the organisation says.

Julian Assange, the founder and editor, has said his group uses “state-of-the-art encryption to bounce stuff around the internet to hide trails”.

Mr Assange told a conference in July that Wikileaks passes its data through countries that offer relatively strong legal protection to people who leak information, including Sweden, Iceland and Belgium. PRQ, a Swedish internet hosting company linked to the file-sharing website The Pirate Bay, has said it provides Wikileaks with server space from a base in the Stockholm suburbs

Mikael Viborg, the owner of PRQ, said Swedish authorities were aware of the servers’ location but had not made any attempt to shut them down. He said Wikileaks also had backup servers in place in other countries that were ready to be activated if their primary servers were shut down.

Reports have also claimed some Wikileaks servers are 30 metres underground, in a Cold War nuclear bunker that was carved out of a large rock hill in Stockholm. After Wikileaks released its Iraq war logs earlier this year, it emerged the organisation was also “mirroring” the data on US-based servers, in a move seen as a deliberate taunt to the Pentagon and US authorities.

 

[Cigar Guy]

WikiLeaks: Silvio Berlusconi insists he only throws 'dignified, elegant' parties


WikiLeaks: Silvio Berlusconi insists he only throws 'dignified, elegant' parties

Silvio Berlusconi has insisted he only throws parties in a "proper, dignified and elegant way" after he was depicted by US diplomats as a man who attends "wild parties".

Italian newspapers highlighted how Mr Berlusconi had holidayed on the Black Sea with Mr Putin and in return the Russian leader had been a guest at his counterpart's luxury villa in Sardinia Photo: GETTY

By Bruno Waterfield 7:30AM GMT 30 Nov 2010

The leaked American cables depicted him as a "feckless, vain and ineffective" European leader.

However, Mr Berlusconi responded yesterday by saying that he didn't care what "third-rate or fourth-rate officials" had to say about him.

According to the cable, the diplomat said of Berlusconi that "frequent late nights and penchant for partying hard mean he does not get sufficient rest."

Mr Berlusconi, who has been accused of entertaining escorts at so called "bunga bunga" parties at his villa, said: "Once a month, I throw dinner parties at my houses, where everything takes place in a proper, dignified and elegant way." Mr Berlusconi was also described as the European mouthpiece for Vladimir Putin, portrayed in the confidential cables as the "alpha-dog" ruler of a corrupt undemocratic Russian state.

Leaked documents make it clear that US diplomats see Mr Putin, Russia's Prime Minister, as Russia's real boss while Dmitry Medvedev, the President, "plays Robin to [his] Batman". "Russian democracy has disappeared and the government is an oligarchy run by the security services," said one cable. Russia yesterday "regretted" the leak and a Russian official noted that "digging into diplomatic underwear is not a nice business".

Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, said: "It's entertaining reading, of course, but in practice we prefer to be guided by the concrete matters of partners. We will continue to adhere to precisely that approach in the future." France has been angered by the US diplomatic notes that describe Nicolas Sarkozy as an "emperor without clothes" who is a "thin skinned, authoritarian and opportunist" French President.

"We have to be very attentive and united at a state level to fight against what is a threat to democratic authority and sovereignty," said
Carl Bildt, Sweden's foreign minister, said that governments needed secret lines of communication in order to deal with crises and to prevent threats to international security.

"The intention behind this publication cannot have been anything other than to damage American diplomacy, although the effect with really be to damage diplomacy in general," he said. "I see this as something that is making the world less safe."

 

[Cigar Guy]

WikiLeaks: China 'would back one Korea run by South'


WikiLeaks: China 'would back one Korea run by South'

The Chinese government is losing patience with North Korea and has described the regime as a “spoiled child”.

The Chinese government is losing patience with North Korea Photo: GETTY

By Robert Winnett and Holly Watt 6:30AM GMT 30 Nov 2010

A senior South Korean minister is alleged to have been told by Beijing officials that the Chinese Government would support the reunification of Korea under the control of Seoul. The sensitive documents were released by Wikileaks last night ahead of crucial international talks in Washington next month to discuss how to tackle North Korea.

Last week, the regime fired missiles at its South Korean neighbour. One diplomatic cable disclosed that China’s vice foreign minister told US officials that Pyongyang was behaving like a “spoiled child” to get America’s attention in April 2009 after carrying out missile tests. However, the documents also outline a complicated relationship between China and North Korea – with other cables exposing US frustration at how North Korea was able to send weapons equipment to Iran via China.

A senior Chinese official, speaking off the record to American officials, insisted that Chinese influence over North Korea was frequently overestimated. One of the most crucial conversations is recorded as taking place in February earlier this year between Chun Yung-Woo, the then South Korean vice-foreign minister and Kathleen Stephens, the US Ambassador in Seoul.

Mr Chun claimed that younger generation Chinese Communist party leaders would not risk renewed armed conflict on the Korean peninsula. Mr Chun also alleged that two senior Chinese officials told him that they believed the Korean peninsular should be reunited under South Korea’s control. "Citing private conversations during previous sessions of the six-party talks, Chun claimed [the two high-level officials] believed Korea should be unified under ROK [South Korea] control,” the US Ambassador reported.

Mr Chun also told the Americans that the two Chinese officials were ready to “face the new reality”. The latest leaked documents also disclose growing Chinese concerns over North Korea’s growing nuclear ambitions. A Chinese ambassador told the Americans that the regime was a “threat to the whole world’s security”. Political collapse could also ensue once Kim Jong-il, the leader of North Korea died despite the regime planning for the succession of his son, Kim Jong-un.

However, the Chinese position towards North Korea is complicated by other documents disclosing the country’s apparent role in the regime’s arms dealing. The US government has repeatedly asked the Chinese to stop shipments transiting between North Korea and Iran through Beijing airport, according to memos sent by both US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the former holder of the office, Condoleezza Rice.

The issue was even raised during talks between President George Bush and his Chinese counterparts. Documents released by the Wikileaks website show that the Americans provided Chinese officials of the exact times and planes on which supplies were being sent from North Korea to Iran. American officials are told to “insist on a substantive response from China” after the Americans intelligence showed that North Korean engine parts will be sent to Iran from Beijing in November 2007.

The memo listed at least ten occasion when “jet vanes” were flown from North Korea to Iran, through Beijing, on board commercial flights. In February this year, the current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton again wrote to American officials in Beijing about Iran’s nuclear plans. According to American intelligence, a Chinese company offered to sell gyroscopes produced by a Russian company to Iran.

Mrs Clinton requested that the Chinese government took “all appropriate measures to ensure that [the Chinese company] is not facilitating unauthorized exports of missile technology to Iran.” The US has repeatedly voiced its concerns about the Iranian nuclear programme, although Iran insists that the developments are peaceful and for energy generation.

Earlier this year, Mrs Clinton again wrote to set out concerns about Iran’s attempts to buy five tons of carbon fibre from a Chinese company. The carbon fibre “could be used to produce rocket nozzles or motor cases for Iran's solid propellant ballistic missile systems,” said officials.

 

[Cigar Guy]

Wikileaks: Julian Assange refused appeal for sex crimes by Swedish courts


Wikileaks: Julian Assange refused appeal for sex crimes by Swedish courts

Julian Assange, the Wikileaks founder, has been refused permission by Sweden's highest court to appeal against an arrest order issued over alleged sexual crimes.

Julian Assange is wanted by InterpolPhoto: AP

11:52AM GMT 02 Dec 2010

Mr Assange has denied the allegations, which were made earlier this year after he visited the country. His lawyer lodged an appeal against the arrest order at the High Court this week but the court has now refused to consider the case.

"The High Court has not granted a leave to appeal, so the Svea Court of Appeals ruling still stands," High Court official Kerstin Norman said. Helena Ekstrand, a Swedish Prosecution Office spokesman, said the office had not received any information as to the location of Mr Assange.

"So the situation now is that the arrest warrant still stands and we are looking for Julian Assange," she said. WikiLeaks released secret US diplomatic cables this week, some of which are embarrassing and which show the thinking behind Washington's international relations.

Mr Assange is reportedly in southeast England, although his exact whereabouts are unknown. His lawyer, Mark Stephens, said that British police and the security services "from a number ofcountries", know where he is.

The international police agency Interpol this week issued a "red notice" to assist in the arrest of Assange.

 

[Cigar Guy]

WikiLeaks: Silvio Berlusconi 'profited handsomely from Vladimir Putin relationship'


WikiLeaks: Silvio Berlusconi 'profited handsomely from Vladimir Putin relationship'

Silvio Berlusconi’s “nefarious connection” with Vladimir Putin has allegedly allowed him to profit “handsomely” from hugely lucrative energy deals, American diplomats reported in secret cables.

Italian newspapers highlighted how Mr Berlusconi had holidayed on the Black Sea with Mr Putin and in return the Russian leader had been a guest at his counterpart's luxury villa in Sardinia Photo: GETTY

By Nick Squires, Rome 4:02PM GMT 02 Dec 2010

The official report that Mr Berlusconi “and his cronies” have been enabled to make money on multi-million pound energy deals concluded between Italy
and Russia. Aside from alleged financial deals, the two leaders’ close ties were founded on Mr Berlusconi’s admiration of “Putin’s macho, decisive and authoritarian governing style,” the then US ambassador to Rome, Ronald Spogli, wrote in Jan 2009.

US diplomats also reported back to Washington that the Italian prime minister, 74, was so tired from “partying hard” that he “dozed off” during his first meeting with David Thorne, the current US ambassador in Rome.

A friend of Mr Berlusconi told American officials in Oct 2009 that medical tests had showed his state of health was “a complete mess”. The cables also disclose that Mr Berlusconi told close aides that he believed Italian intelligence services “might have deliberately entrapped him” in his relations with Noemi Letizia, a lingerie model whose 18th birthday he attended near Naples last year, and who calls him 'Papi’ or Daddy.

The Italian leader’s insistence that he should act as an interlocutor between Washington and Moscow was “a real irritant” to the Americans and threatened to undermine the West’s relationship with Russia on a range of issues, including Nato expansion, Kosovo’s independence, the missile defence shield and the war in Georgia.

In a memo on relations between Italy and Russia, Mr Spogli wrote that contacts in both Italy’s opposition Democratic Party and Mr Berlusconi’s own coalition had “hinted” at a “nefarious connection” between Mr Berlusconi and Mr Putin. “They believe that Berlusconi and his cronies are profiting personally and handsomely from many of the energy deals between Italy and Russia,” the ambassador wrote.

Georgia’s ambassador in Rome had told the Americans that the Georgian government “believes Putin has promised Berlusconi a percentage of profits from any pipelines developed by Gazprom (the Russian oil and gas giant) in co-ordination with (the Italian energy conglomerate) ENI.”

In cultivating his links with Mr Putin, the Italian premier completely ignored his foreign minister and the Italian embassy in Moscow and instead relied on Valentino Valentini, an MP “and somewhat shadowy figure who travels to Russia several times a month.” Contacts, including members of Mr Berlusconi’s office, told the Americans that Mr Berlusconi “determines Italy’s policy on Russia single-handedly, neither seeking nor accepting counsel.”

The Americans were so concerned about alleged secret financial links between Mr Berlusconi and Mr Putin that the State Department asked the embassy in Rome to investigate whether either had “personal investments” that “might drive their foreign or economic policies.”

The two leaders exchanged “lavish gifts”, including a bed which Mr Putin gave to the Italian prime minister. He has frequently been photographed wearing a navy blue jacket stamped with the double-headed eagle emblem of the Russian Federation — an apparent gift from Mr Putin.

Mr Berlusconi’s lawyer, Niccolo Ghedini, who is also an MP in his party, dismissed the allegations about shady financial deals with Russia. The claims contained in the leaked cables were “without any foundation whatever”. Earlier cables released by Wikileaks revealed that US diplomats in Rome judged Mr Berlusconi to be “feckless, vain, and ineffective as a modern European leader.”

Mr Berlusconi denied the claims that his pursuit of close relations with Moscow was motivated by personal gain. "The United States knows very clearly that I don’t have any interest with any other country, that there are absolutely no personal interests.

"I only look after the interests of the Italian people and those of my country," he said, speaking on the margins of Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) summit in Astana, Kazakhstan.

 

[Cigar Guy]

WikiLeaks out for hours after U.S. firm pulls plug


WikiLeaks out for hours after U.S. firm pulls plug

PARIS | Fri Dec 3, 2010 11:49am GMT


PARIS (Reuters) - An American company that had been directing traffic to the WikiLeaks website withdrew its services late on Thursday, making the site invisible for several hours.

EveryDNS.net, which helps computers locate the sites of its members, said WikiLeaks had breached its terms of service, and that it had stopped providing services to the controversial publisher of leaked information at 2200 Eastern time on Thursday (3 a.m. British time on Friday).

However, WikiLeaks announced on Friday on Twitter that it could be seen using a new address, wikileaks.ch , which is operated by a Swiss academic network.

The United States is furious about WikiLeaks' publication of hundreds of confidential diplomatic cables that have given unvarnished and sometimes embarrassing insights into the foreign policy of the United States and its allies.

"This is a smart move. Switzerland is known for not bending to international pressure," said Michiel Leenaars, director of strategy at NLnet, a Dutch Internet research charity.

EveryDNS.net said the WikiLeaks web address that it administered had been bombarded by hackers. This had undermined the service that it provides to its other clients, leaving it with no choice but to find WikiLeaks in breach of its terms of service.

"Wikileaks.org has become the target of multiple distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks," EveryDNS.net said on its website ( www.everydns.com ).
"These attacks have, and future attacks would, threaten the stability of the EveryDNS.net infrastructure, which enables access to almost 500,000 other websites."

Tens of thousands of such registrars exist worldwide that provide DNS hosting -- directory services to locate websites that do not maintain their own domain name services -- which would be able to provide alternative services to Wikileaks.

(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

 

[Cigar Guy]

Amazon blocks out WikiLeaks, but denies U.S. pressure


Amazon blocks out WikiLeaks, but denies U.S. pressure

NEW YORK | Fri Dec 3, 2010 3:33am GMT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc said on Thursday it has stopped hosting the website of WikiLeaks, which published sensitive classified U.S. government information, but it denied it was a result of pressure from lawmakers.

"There have been reports that a government inquiry prompted us not to serve WikiLeaks any longer. That is inaccurate," the company said in a statement. "There have also been reports that it was prompted by massive DDOS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks. That too is inaccurate. There were indeed large-scale DDOS attacks, but they were successfully defended against."

Amazon said it stopped hosting WikiLeaks' website because it violated its terms of service, not because an inquiry by the U.S. Senate Homeland Security Committee sparked anger about the release of thousands of classified U.S. government documents. Staff for the committee's chairman, Joe Lieberman, had questioned Amazon about its relationship with WikiLeaks on Tuesday and called on other companies that provide Web-hosting services to boycott WikiLeaks.

WikiLeaks turned to Amazon to keep its site available after hackers tried to flood it and prevent users accessing the classified information. WikiLeaks said it is now being hosted by servers in Europe. In its statement on Thursday, Amazon said its Amazon Web Services (AWS) rents computer infrastructure on a self-service basis. AWS does not pre-screen its customers, but it does have terms of service that must be followed.

"WikiLeaks was not following them. There were several parts they were violating," the company said. For example, it said under its terms of service, a customer must guarantee it owns or controls all of the rights to the content and that use of the content will not cause injury to any person or entity.

"It's clear that WikiLeaks doesn't own or otherwise control all the rights to this classified content," Amazon said. "It is not credible that the extraordinary volume of 250,000 classified documents that WikiLeaks is publishing could have been carefully redacted in such a way as to ensure that they weren't putting innocent people in jeopardy."

Amazon said that in four years it had hundreds of thousands of customers storing all kinds of data on AWS. "Some of this data is controversial, and that's perfectly fine. But, when companies or people go about securing and storing large quantities of data that isn't rightfully theirs, and publishing this data without ensuring it won't injure others, it's a violation of our terms of service, and folks need to go operate elsewhere."

WikiLeaks slammed Amazon for dropping it, saying via the social media network Twitter that if Amazon was "so uncomfortable with the First Amendment (of the U.S. Constitution), they should get out of the business of selling books."

(Reporting by Steve James; Editing by Richard Chang)

 

[Cigar Guy]

WikiLeaks: Bribery, graft rampant in Afghanistan


WikiLeaks: Bribery, graft rampant in Afghanistan

Published: Friday December 3

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP): US diplomatic cables revealed Friday portray Afghanistan as rife with graft to the highest levels of government, with tens of millions of dollars flowing out of the country and a cash transfer network that facilitates bribes for corrupt Afghan officials, drug traffickers and insurgents.

Details from a vast tranche of cables released by the WikiLeaks website could further erode support for the nine-year war. After applying heavy public pressure on President Hamid Karzai to fight corruption, US and NATO officials have switched to nudging him quietly so as not to undermine the very government the international community is trying to strengthen as an alternative to the Taliban.

The leaked cables also could bolster the concerns of U.S. lawmakers who have threatened to hold back aid until they are convinced the money will not end up lining the pockets of the political elite. The corruption is portrayed as coming directly from the top. An August 2009 report from Kabul says Karzai and his attorney general "allowed dangerous individuals to go free or re-enter the battlefield without ever facing an Afghan court."

Some of the graft is believed to go on to benefit insurgent networks, according to the files. A Dec. 27, 2009, cable from the US Embassy in Kabul said Paktia provincial governor Jume Khan Hamdard has been accused of arresting contractors at job sites and holding them until they pay bribes. According to the communique, Hamdard also funnels money from bribes and drug and jewel smuggling operations to an insurgent network.

"Evidence collected in the case points to corruption involving US funds and actively undermining the Afghan government's counterinsurgency policy," the cable said. Karzai appears in the cables as mercurial and changeable. In early February during a meeting with a US Embassy official, Abdul Salam Zaeef, the Taliban's former ambassador to Pakistan, said Karzai is deceiving all sides.

"When he sits with me, he tells me he wants the foreign troops to leave, then he tells you he wants them to stay forever, and he tells yet a third story to Islamic leaders of other countries," Zaeef said. A June 2008 cable wonders "which Karzai would show up for the (2009) Afghan donors conference in Paris - the erratic Pashtun politician or the rational national leader." Much of the graft described in the cables is facilitated by Afghanistan's largest hawala money-transfer system, New Ansari.

Hawalas, which flourish in the Islamic world, are difficult to track and regulate. "Afghanistan's New Ansari hawala network is facilitating bribes and other wide-scale illicit cash transfers for corrupt Afghan officials and is providing illicit financial services for narco-traffickers, insurgents, and criminals through an array of front companies in Afghanistan and the UAE," according to an Oct. 18, 2009, cable signed by US Ambassador Karl Eikenberry.

The flow of money in and out of the country also was revealed to be a serious concern for the US. An Oct. 19, 2009, cable says that more than $190 million left Kabul for Dubai through Kabul International Airport during the previous 90 days, but actual amounts could be much larger. "An official claiming firsthand knowledge recently told the US Treasury attache some $75 million transited through the airport bound for Dubai in one day during the month of July," before the last presidential election, the cable said.

The cable said the United Arab Emirates revealed that it had stopped former Afghan Vice President Ahmad Zia Masood entering the country with $52 million earlier in 2009. He was allowed to keep most of the money "without revealing the money's origin or destination," according to the document.
The document notes that the former chairman of the troubled Kabul Bank owns multiple properties in Dubai.

"Many other notable private individuals and public officials maintain assets (primarily property) outside Afghanistan, suggesting these individuals are extracting as much wealth as possible while conditions permit," the document said. The cable said Afghan Central Bank Governor Abdul Qadir Fitrat, however, noted that about $600 million had left Afghanistan's banking system, although not necessarily the country, before the elections because of uncertainty over the outcome of the ballot.

He stressed that there were no indications of significant capital flight. Afghan Finance Minister Omar Zakhilwal said last summer that about $4.2 billion in cash had been transferred through the airport during the past three and one half years. He said that while it was not illegal to transfer cash out of Afghanistan, officials were concerned about the amount being transferred.

In an Oct. 3, 2009, cable, Eikenberry describes up the US predicament after meeting Ahmad Wali Karzi, the president's half brother who has faced widespread allegations of involvement in racketeering, drug-trafficking and assassinations of rivals. The younger Karzai denies those allegations. "The meeting with AWK highlights one of our major challenges in Afghanistan: how to fight corruption and connect the people to their government, when the key government officials are themselves corrupt," Eikenberry writes.

The cables also show Iranian influence in Afghanistan, including political meddling and training insurgents. On Feb. 2, Karzai's chief of staff, Umar Daudzai, told US Embassy officials that the Iranians "no longer even bother to deny their support for the Taliban," and that on occasion, young Afghan men cross into Iran where they are recruited and trained to return and fight.

 

[Cigar Guy]

WikiLeaks dropped by domain name provider


WikiLeaks dropped by domain name provider

Published: Friday December 3, 2010

STOCKHOLM (AP): WikiLeaks' American domain name system provider, EveryDNS, has withdrawn service to the wikileaks.org name after the secret-spilling website once again became the target of hacker attacks. EveryDNS said in a statement that it dropped the website late Thursday because the attacks threatened the rest of its network.

"Wikileaks.org has become the target of multiple distributed denial of service attacks. These attacks have, and future attacks would, threaten the stability of the EveryDNS.net infrastructure," it said in a statement. EveryDNS provides access to some 500,000 websites. WikiLeaks confirmed the drop on its Twitter account, saying "WikiLeaks.org domain killed by US everydns.net after claimed mass attacks."

WikiLeaks has angered the US and other governments by publishing almost half a million secret documents about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The latest batch contains thousands of classified US diplomatic cables. On Wednesday, Amazon.com Inc. - who had provided WikiLeaks with use of its servers to distribute embarrassing State Department communications and other documents - evicted it.

The site remains on servers of a Swedish host, Bahnhof. The ouster from Amazon came after congressional staff questioned the company about its relationship with WikiLeaks. Sen. Joe Lieberman praised Amazon's action and said it should "set the standard" for companies WikiLeaks is using to distribute "illegally seized material".

 

[Cigar Guy]

Malaysian firms cleared of involvement in missile technology scam


Published: Friday December 3, 2010 MYT 8:36:00 PM

Malaysian firms cleared of involvement in missile technology scam

By JOSHUA FOONG

PUTRAJAYA: The two Malaysian companies implicated by Wikileaks as being involved in a network controlled by Iran to purchase missile technology from China have been cleared of any wrongdoing and pose no threat to national security.

“We have been monitoring these two companies since 2008 and from our observations, they are of no threat to national security,” Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said at a press conference here Friday.

Claiming that reports on the whistleblower website Wikileaks were not new, Hishammuddin said the more surprising thing was speculation that the Malaysian government was not doing more to stop the two firms.

“If they (international agencies) have any doubts or new information, why not just ask us instead of communicating and speculating among themselves?” he asked, adding that the ministry is in contact with the FBI, CIA and other intelligence agencies.

Hishammuddin also said his ministry had been given full cooperation and spoken to the directors of the two companies. The ministry is working closely with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), the Defence Ministry and the Foreign Ministry on the case, he added.

 

[Cigar Guy]

WikiLeaks back online after moving to Swiss servers


WikiLeaks back online after moving to Swiss servers

Whistleblowing website Wikileaks is back up and running after switching its operations to servers based in Switzerland.

WikiLeaks can now be accessed through a Swiss domain, Wikileaks.ch. Photo: EPA

By Claudine Beaumont, Technology Editor 12:14PM GMT 03 Dec 2010

The site had been forced offline after its US-based service provider, EveryDNS, withdrew support for the site, claiming that repeated distributed denial of service attacks aimed at the Wikileaks site were affecting the web operations of other EveryDNS customers.

It has taken Wikileaks just hours to make alternative hosting arrangements. The site can now be accessed through a Swiss domain, Wikileaks.ch. According to reports, the domain is registered by the Pirate Party of Switzerland, and is associated with an internet protocol address in Sweden.

The Swedish site is not hosting any Wikileaks content, and is instead directing browsers to an address in France which does host Wikileaks content, including the latest batch of diplomatic cables.

Users can also access the Wikileaks site using its unique IP address (http://88.80.13.160) rather than its more user-friendly URL. Wikileaks, founded by Julian Assange, has been heavily criticised by governments around the world for leaking confidential communiques between diplomats, ambassadors and government agencies.

The whistleblowing website will hope that moving its operations to Swiss servers will make it more difficult for it to be forced offline. The site was using Amazon’s web services to host some content, but Amazon removed its support for Wikileaks, supposedly after bowing to pressure from the US government.

 

[Cigar Guy]

WikiLeaks: US chiefs blamed British failures for high levels of violence in Sangin

American military commanders said that Britain repeatedly failed to secure its part of Helmand province in Afghanistan, leaked diplomatic cables have disclosed.

Some of the fiercest US criticism was aimed at British operations around Sangin in northern Helmand Photo: AP

By James Kirkup and Ben Farmer in Kabul 10:29PM GMT 02 Dec 2010

The extremely high levels of violence in Sangin, where 106 British soldiers have been killed, reflected a failure to concentrate forces and mount decisive attacks against the Taliban, US commanders are said to have believed.

Britain handed over control of the town in northern Helmand in September.

The American criticism of Britain’s departure from Sangin, which was leaked to the WikiLeaks website, has raised painful memories of the withdrawal from Basra in Iraq, where US commanders made clear they believed the Army had failed.

Any suggestion that Britain left Sangin after a military failure would be an embarrassment for Coalition ministers, who have strongly defended the redeployment as a sensible reorganisation.

Some American commanders have also criticised British operations elsewhere in Helmand, including a secret peace deal negotiated in 2006 with insurgents around the town of Musa Qala.

British sources accepted that some American commanders and officials had been critical of Britain’s record in Sangin before the hand-over. But they insisted that the leaked cables did not reflect the current US view.

One source said: “The Americans’ initial comments were quite harsh. But that changed very quickly once they actually got to Sangin and started operating there.”

When the US forces arrived in Sangin, they began to dismantle a network of towers and remote outposts built by the British. That decision was taken as a rebuke to the British forces, who lost several men capturing the territory to build the outposts. Almost a third of the total number of British troops killed in Afghanistan died in Sangin.

British sources said that the Americans have since begun reconstructing some of the posts. As well as the US verdict on Britain’s forces, the leaked papers have also made a range of revelations about Washington’s dealings with Kabul.

The US envoy to Afghanistan has said those revelations could have “potentially cataclysmic fallout” for relations with Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president. Karl Eikenberry told his Canadian counterpart in Kabul that secret messages disclosed by WikiLeaks could feed Mr Karzai’s paranoia and deepen his confrontational stance towards Nato.

William Crosbie relayed the American concerns to his government in Ottawa in a diplomatic memo which was then leaked. Mr Crosbie said some feared Mr Karzai would “burn his bridges” with the coalition once the cables emerged.

WikiLeaks documents have already stated Washington’s belief that Mr Karzai’s brother is a corrupt drug baron. There was also frustration at presidential pardons for well-connected drug traffickers.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said British forces left Sangin with honour. “UK forces did an excellent job in Sangin, delivering progress by increasing security and taking the fight to the insurgency.

“That work is being continued by US marines who have publicly recognised and paid tribute to the sacrifice and achievements of UK forces.”

 

[Cigar Guy]

WikiLeaks: Mexico feared losing control to drugs gangs


WikiLeaks: Mexico feared losing control to drugs gangs

A Mexican Cabinet minister told U.S. officials late last year that he had a "real concern" that Mexico would lose control of parts of the country to drug traffickers, according to a U.S. State Department cable released on Thursday by WikiLeaks.

Soldiers ride in a truck while patrolling along a busy street in Acapulco Photo: REUTERS

7:30AM GMT 03 Dec 2010

Undersecretary for the Interior Geronimo Gutiérrez Fernandez, who oversees domestic security, "expressed a real concern with 'losing' certain regions," according to the memo, posted online on Thursday by the newspaper El Pais of Spain as a growing list of sensitive U.S. government messages were released by WikiLeaks.

"It is damaging Mexico's international reputation, hurting foreign investment, and leading to a sense of government impotence, Gutiérrez said," according to the memo.

The Oct. 5, 2009 cable describes a dinner that the Mexican Attorney General hosted for a delegation from the U.S. Department of Justice. It also quoted Mr Gutiérrez as saying the $1.4 billion Merida Initiative, the United States' major effort to help Mexico fight the drug war, was too hastily crafted to be effective.

"In retrospect he and other GOM (Government of Mexico) officials realise that not enough strategic thought went into Merida in the early phase," the memo said. "There was too much emphasis in the initial planning on equipment, which they now know is slow to arrive and even slower to be of direct utility in the fight against the DTOs (drug-trafficking organisations.)"

President Felipe Calderón, who launched an assault on drug cartels in 2006, has maintained the federal government has control over all the country. Both the U.S. and Mexico have said recently that Merida money in the future would be directed towards creating more effective institutions. Contacted on Thursday afternoon, Mr Calderon's office said it had just seen the cables and had no immediate comment.

Mexican officials also proposed a strategy of regaining order in three of the most violent cities – Tijuana, Ciudad Juarez, and Culiacán, in the western state of Sinaloa, home to the powerful cartel of the same name, the cable said.

Mr Gutiérrez and National Security System Coordinator Jorge Tello Peon said Mr Calderón has to stop the violence in Ciudad Juarez, the cable said. "Politically ... Calderón has staked so much of his reputation there, with a major show of force that, to date, has not panned out," the cable said Mr Gutiérrez and Mr Peon told U.S. officials at the dinner.

 

[Cigar Guy]

WikiLeaks' Julian Assange 'taking precautions' after death threats


WikiLeaks' Julian Assange 'taking precautions' after death threats

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says he and his staff are "taking precautions" after politicians in the US suggested those responsible for publishing secret diplomatic cables should face the death penalty.

Julian Assange is wanted by Interpol Photo: AP

2:27PM GMT 03 Dec 2010

Mr Assange is under intense scrutiny worldwide after his website began releasing a selection of more than 250,000 classified US diplomatic cables passed to the whistle-blowing website.

Sarah Palin, the former Republican vice-presidential candidate, has called for him to be hunted down like the al-Qaeda leadership while other members of her party have directly called for a capital sentence against WikiLeaks personnel.

"The threats against our lives are a matter of public record," Mr Assange said in a Q & A on the Guardian website. "However, we are taking the appropriate precautions to the degree that we are able when dealing with a superpower."

The Swedish authorities are also seeking Mr Assange over a charge of rape and sexual assault. Interpol has issued an international warrant for his arrest. British police requested more information about the penalties Mr Assange could face if convicted, according to a statement on the Swedish Prosecution Authority's website.

It is understood that this has now been provided, although the Metropolitan Police refused to discuss whether officers from its extradition unit were preparing to arrest Mr Assange. Mr Assange's UK lawyer said this afternoon that neither the British nor the Swedish authorities had sought to speak to his client.

London-based Mark Stephens said: ''The police have given us an undertaking that they will contact us if they want to get in touch with Julian. At this point in time nobody has.''

 

[annexa]

Re: WikiLeaks' Julian Assange 'taking precautions' after death threats

Sarah Palin, the former Republican vice-presidential candidate, has called for him to be hunted down like the al-Qaeda leadership

Hehehehehehehehe makes me wonder just what skeletons she has in her closet to be so afraid!