Uncensored copies of WikiLeaks’ massive tome of US State Department cables were circulating freely across the Internet on Thursday, a dramatic development which leaves a new batch of US sources vulnerable to embarrassment and potential retribution.
WikiLeaks has blamed Britain’s Guardian newspaper for the breach, saying that an investigative journalist had revealed the password needed to unlock the files in a book published earlier this year. Guardian journalists said that sloppy security at Julian Assange’s anti-secrecy website helped expose the cables to the world.
In a 1,600-word-long editorial posted online, WikiLeaks accused the Guardian reporter David Leigh of betrayal, saying that his disclosure had jeopardised months of “careful work”. Leigh and the Guardian both denied wrongdoing.