Assange fires back in terror list row
Updated
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has accused the Federal Government of "ratting out" Australians named as having links to a radical Yemeni cleric in a classified US embassy cable.
The cable recommends 11 of the Australians be placed on a no-fly list, and a further 12 be placed on a terrorism watch list.
Federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland broke the Government's long-standing position not to comment on material that has been published by WikiLeaks to condemn the release of the uncensored cable.
"On occasions in the past, WikiLeaks has decided to redact identifying features where security operations or safety could be put at risk. This has not occurred in this case," Mr McClelland said in a statement.
"The publication of any information that could compromise Australia's national security - or inhibit the ability of intelligence agencies to monitor potential threats - is incredibly irresponsible."
The statement has drawn a swift riposte from Mr Assange, who is currently under house arrest in England as a court prepares to rule on whether he can be extradited to Sweden over sexual assault allegations, which he denies.
"Australian Attorney-General Robert McClelland bemoans having his department being publicly caught out ratting out 23 Australians to the US embassy without due process," Mr Assange said.
"If Mr McClelland is unhappy about being caught out, perhaps he should consider cancelling my Australian passport again.
"It has not, after all, proven terribly useful to me the last 267 days of my detention without charge. Or, perhaps he could do us all a favour, cancel his own passport and deport himself?"
Al-Awlaki, a Muslim cleric who is a US citizen but left the country in 2001 and joined Al Qaeda in Yemen, has been tied to plots against the United States over the past two years.
"A number of Australians have been drawn to extremist figures in Yemen, including to Anwar al-Awlaki," Mr McClelland said.
"Australian authorities are working together with international partners to identify and mitigate threats, including by preventing Australians to travel overseas to undertake terrorism-related activity."
Mr McClelland says it is practice not to comment on individuals who may or may not be of security concern or on matters of national security.
More revelations
Among the latest WikiLeaks releases is a cable that shows Australia and the United States schemed unsuccessfully in 2005 to block Mohamed ElBaradei's election to a third term as head of the International Atomic Energy Agency.Both countries were unhappy with what was described as his "unhelpful" response to Iran's nuclear program.
But the bid to prevent his re-election to the agency's leadership ultimately failed for lack of international support.
Other cables cover the events before Prime Minister Julia Gillard ousted Kevin Rudd.
Labor insiders told US officials in December 2009 that Mr Rudd wielded almost total control over a subservient Caucus.
"However, powerbrokers confide the factions will assert themselves when Rudd's popularity wanes," the cable says.
Six months later, after more chats with Labor powerbrokers, the embassy estimated, "At present, the question of a successor to Rudd is probably two elections away."
It was closer to two weeks after that cable that Ms Gillard took over the leadership.
Her possible successor, Bill Shorten, is the subject of a third cable after he presented at the US consulate in Melbourne quoting Martin Luther King Junior.
"Shorten, who is somewhat rumpled in appearance, prefers to get down to business quickly in meetings," the cable says.
"Shorten struck us as highly ambitious but willing to wait - at least for a while - for his moment in the sun."
Under attack
This morning WikiLeaks said it was fending off a cyberattack after the latest cable release."WikiLeaks.org is presently under cyberattack," the organisation said in a terse message on microblogging service Twitter.
The message provided a link to a cablegatesearch.net website where digital copies of the political documents could be viewed.
US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland would not confirm the authenticity of the latest documents, but said "the United States strongly condemns any illegal disclosure of classified information."
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