Australia blames US for Wikileaks

Australia's foreign minister has said the US is to blame for your launch of a huge number of diplomatic cables on Wikileaks, not its Australian founder, Julian Assange. automotive car online

Kevin Rudd said the release raised concerns about US security.

Mr Rudd said he didn't "give a damn" about criticism of him from the cables.

Mr Assange, arrested from the UK over intercourse crime allegations in Sweden, has accused the Australian authorities of "disgraceful pandering" towards the US.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard had earlier named Mr Assange's launch of the cables "grossly irresponsible".

Over the past two weeks, Wikileaks has launched a huge number of categorized messages from US envoys close to the globe, from more than 250,000 it has been provided.

Washington has named their publication "irresponsible" and an "attack around the international community".
'First course job'

In an interview with Reuters news company, Mr Rudd said: "Mr Assange is just not himself accountable for your unauthorised launch of 250,000 documents from your US diplomatic communications network. The Americans are accountable for that."

Mr Rudd, the former prime minister who was changed by Julia Gillard in June, added: "I think you can find true concerns to become requested about the adequacy of [the US] security techniques and the stage of accessibility that folks have needed to that materials.

"The core obligation, and therefore authorized legal responsibility, goes to individuals folks accountable for that initial unauthorised launch."

The White Residence has ordered US authorities companies to tighten their handling of categorized documents from the wake of the Wikileaks releases.

Mr Rudd was dismissed in a single leaked US cable as a "mistake-prone manage freak".

In cables printed by the Sydney Morning Herald former US ambassador Robert McCallum said Mr Rudd manufactured "snap announcements without having consulting other international locations or inside the Australian government".

The US was also angered at what it named Mr Rudd's "self-serving and inaccurate leaking" of a telephone call with then US President George W Bush by which Mr Rudd was reported as saying: "Stunned to listen to Bush say, 'What's the G20?'"

Mr Rudd shrugged off the criticism, saying: "I'm confident a lot worse has been written about me previously and probably a lot worse will be written about me from the potential but frankly, mate, I will not care.

Ms Gillard defended Mr Rudd, saying: "He's bringing [his] expertise to bear for your Australian nation and undertaking an totally first course position."

Mr Assange has been highly crucial of the Australian government's stance around the launch of the cables.

In an opinion piece from the Australian on Wednesday, Mr Assange accused the Australian authorities of "disgraceful pandering" towards the Americans and of placing the powers of the authorities completely in the disposal of the US.

From the piece headlined "Don't shoot the messenger for revealing uncomfortable truths", he says: "Democratic societies will need a strong media and Wikileaks is part of that media. The media helps keep authorities trustworthy."

He provides: "The Australian attorney-general is undertaking every little thing he can to help a US investigation clearly directed at framing Australian citizens and delivery them towards the US."

Mr Assange has been refused bail by a court in London but has vowed to fight extradition to Sweden.

He denies sexually assaulting two women in Sweden but was remanded in custody pending a hearing next week.

Mr Assange's lawyer, Mark Stephens, has claimed the charges are "politically motivated".

On a pay a visit to to Serbia on Wednesday, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said there had been no contact with US authorities about the doable extradition of Mr Assange from Sweden towards the US.

The US has begun a felony investigation and vowed to punish anyone found accountable for unlawful leaks.

No-one has been charged with passing the diplomatic information to Wikileaks, but suspicion has fallen on US Army private Bradley Manning, an intelligence analyst arrested in Iraq in June and charged over an earlier leak.