WikiLeaks is in the process of publishing more than 500,000 Saudi diplomatic documents to the Internet, the transparency website said Friday, a move that echoes its famous release of US State Department cables in 2010, AP reported.
WikiLeaks said in a statement that it has already posted roughly 60,000 files. Most of them appear to be in Arabic.
There was no immediate way to verify the authenticity of the documents, although WikiLeaks has a long track record of hosting large-scale leaks of government material. Many of the documents carried green letterhead marked “Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” or “Ministry of Foreign Affairs.” Some were marked “urgent” or “classified.” At least one appeared to be from the Saudi Embassy in Washington.
If genuine, the documents would offer a rare glimpse into the inner workings of the notoriously opaque kingdom. They might also shed light on Riyadh’s longstanding regional rivalry with Iran, its support for Syrian rebels and Egypt’s military-backed government, and its opposition to an emerging international agreement on Tehran’s nuclear program, AP said.
One of the documents, dated to 2012, appears to highlight Saudi Arabia’s well-known skepticism about the Iranian nuclear talks. A message from the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Tehran to the Foreign Ministry in Riyadh describes “flirting American messages” being carried to Iran via an unnamed Turkish mediator.
Another 2012 missive, this time sent from the Saudi Embassy in Abu Dhabi, said the United Arab Emirates was putting “heavy pressure” on the Egyptian government not to try former president Hosni Mubarak, who had been overthrown in a popular uprising the year before.
According to AP, It is not clear how WikiLeaks got the documents, although in its statement the website referred to a recent electronic attack on the Saudi Foreign Ministry by a group calling itself the Yemen Cyber Army. Hrafnsson declined to elaborate on the statement or say whether the hackers subsequently passed documents on to WikiLeaks.
“As a matter of policy we’re not going to discuss the source of the material,” he said.
In its statement, WikiLeaks said the release coincided with the three-year anniversary of its founder, Julian Assange, who sought asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.
Zaman al-Wasl will publish all cabels related toi the Syrian conflict.
Assad flattered by Wikileaks
A delegation represented Wkilieaks, included Julian Assange’s father John Shipton, founder and CEO of the political party, visited Syrian on Dec. 30, and met with Bashar al-Assad.
The members of the Australian WikiLeaks Party said the visit had aimed at showing solidarity with the Syrian people and opposing Western military intervention.
The visit triggered a furor when revealed in Australia, with the center-left Labor opposition describing it as “extraordinary” and “irresponsible”.
The WikiLeaks Party was founded by Assange as part of his failed campaign for election to Australia’s parliament this year, but is distinct from the amorphous whistleblowing group.
Shipton announced plans to set up a WikiLeaks Party office in Damascus in a show of solidarity with ordinary Syrians, The Australian said.
The WikiLeaks Party said a “formal report from the fact finding delegation will be published once the delegates return to Australia”, in a brief statement on its Twitter feed.
In a December 22 website post announcing it would take part in the “solidarity delegation”, the WikiLeaks Party said the visit was to show opposition to violence and Western military intervention.
“The WikiLeaks Party was the first party in Australia to warn of the deadly consequences of any Western military intervention in Syria,” the post said.
“It went further by questioning the credibility of the excuses of such intervention based on unsubstantiated reports of the Syrian Army’s use of chemical weapons against Syrian civilians.
“The same excuses,” which turned out to be “no more than fabrications and lies” had been used to justify the U.S.-led war in Iraq, the party said.
WikiLeaks said in a statement that it has already posted roughly 60,000 files. Most of them appear to be in Arabic.
There was no immediate way to verify the authenticity of the documents, although WikiLeaks has a long track record of hosting large-scale leaks of government material. Many of the documents carried green letterhead marked “Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” or “Ministry of Foreign Affairs.” Some were marked “urgent” or “classified.” At least one appeared to be from the Saudi Embassy in Washington.
If genuine, the documents would offer a rare glimpse into the inner workings of the notoriously opaque kingdom. They might also shed light on Riyadh’s longstanding regional rivalry with Iran, its support for Syrian rebels and Egypt’s military-backed government, and its opposition to an emerging international agreement on Tehran’s nuclear program, AP said.
One of the documents, dated to 2012, appears to highlight Saudi Arabia’s well-known skepticism about the Iranian nuclear talks. A message from the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Tehran to the Foreign Ministry in Riyadh describes “flirting American messages” being carried to Iran via an unnamed Turkish mediator.
Another 2012 missive, this time sent from the Saudi Embassy in Abu Dhabi, said the United Arab Emirates was putting “heavy pressure” on the Egyptian government not to try former president Hosni Mubarak, who had been overthrown in a popular uprising the year before.
According to AP, It is not clear how WikiLeaks got the documents, although in its statement the website referred to a recent electronic attack on the Saudi Foreign Ministry by a group calling itself the Yemen Cyber Army. Hrafnsson declined to elaborate on the statement or say whether the hackers subsequently passed documents on to WikiLeaks.
“As a matter of policy we’re not going to discuss the source of the material,” he said.
In its statement, WikiLeaks said the release coincided with the three-year anniversary of its founder, Julian Assange, who sought asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.
Zaman al-Wasl will publish all cabels related toi the Syrian conflict.
Assad flattered by Wikileaks
A delegation represented Wkilieaks, included Julian Assange’s father John Shipton, founder and CEO of the political party, visited Syrian on Dec. 30, and met with Bashar al-Assad.
The members of the Australian WikiLeaks Party said the visit had aimed at showing solidarity with the Syrian people and opposing Western military intervention.
The visit triggered a furor when revealed in Australia, with the center-left Labor opposition describing it as “extraordinary” and “irresponsible”.
The WikiLeaks Party was founded by Assange as part of his failed campaign for election to Australia’s parliament this year, but is distinct from the amorphous whistleblowing group.
Shipton announced plans to set up a WikiLeaks Party office in Damascus in a show of solidarity with ordinary Syrians, The Australian said.
The WikiLeaks Party said a “formal report from the fact finding delegation will be published once the delegates return to Australia”, in a brief statement on its Twitter feed.
In a December 22 website post announcing it would take part in the “solidarity delegation”, the WikiLeaks Party said the visit was to show opposition to violence and Western military intervention.
“The WikiLeaks Party was the first party in Australia to warn of the deadly consequences of any Western military intervention in Syria,” the post said.
“It went further by questioning the credibility of the excuses of such intervention based on unsubstantiated reports of the Syrian Army’s use of chemical weapons against Syrian civilians.
“The same excuses,” which turned out to be “no more than fabrications and lies” had been used to justify the U.S.-led war in Iraq, the party said.
Zaman Al Wasl
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