Wikileaks publishes 1.7m US diplomatic records

BBC News, 8 April 2013

Wikileaks says it has created the world's largest searchable collection
of US diplomatic documents

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Wikileaks has published more than 1.7 million US diplomatic and intelligence reports from the 1970s.

The website's founder, Julian Assange, said the documents revealed the "vast range and scope" of US activity around the world.

The collection covers the period when Henry Kissinger was US Secretary of State and National Security Adviser.

Mr Assange has been in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since last June, to avoid extradition to Sweden.

He is wanted in Sweden to face allegations that he sexually assaulted two female ex-Wikileaks supporters in 2010.

Mr Assange denies the allegations, and has said they are politically motivated and part of a smear campaign against him and his whistle-blowing website.

The website made headlines around the world in 2010 after it released more than 250,000 leaked US cables.

The latest collection, entitled the Public Library of US Diplomacy (PlusD), comprises diplomatic cables, intelligence reports and congressional correspondence running from the beginning of 1973 to the end of 1976.

Much of the correspondence is either written by or sent to Henry Kissinger; with thousands of documents marked NODIS (no distribution) or Eyes Only.

The documents have not been leaked and are available to view at the US national archives.

Mr Assange told Britain's Press Association that he had been compiling the data during his enforced stay at the Ecuadorian embassy.

Wikileaks has called it the world's largest searchable collection of US confidential, or formerly confidential, diplomatic communications, the Press Association reports.