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The power of Wikileaks

US embassy cables :  whats happening in the world of powerful diplomacy? Remember, Wikileaks's recent releases below.




(Lennart Preiss/AP/File) Julian Assange
The founder of Wikileaks arrested Tuesday
Assange, 39, turned himself in to police 
Tuesday morning, hours after Britain
 received a formal warrant for his arrest
 from Swedish authorities. Assange denies 
any wrongdoing and says he will fight the 
attempt to extradite him, beginning with a
hearing Dec. 14.
That could be the start of a legal battle 
that could drag on for weeks or even 
months, in part because the case against 
him in Sweden remains rather murky. 
Assange, who is Australian, is eager to
 avoid extradition for fear that it could set 
the stage for him to be sent to the U.S. if 
prosecutors there charge him with offenses
 relating to the WikiLeaks disclosures of 
State Department diplomatic cables and
 classified Pentagon files related to the wars
 in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Those leaked files have turned Assange into
 an international figure, vilified by the U.S. 
and governments around the world for spilling 
official secrets but lionized by activists 
demanding a free flow of information. 
In Washington, the Obama administration
 blames Assange for recklessly damaging 
U.S. relations with other countries and even 
aiding terrorists.
A spokesman for WikiLeaks vowed that 
Assange's arrest would not affect the website's 
plans to continue publishing its cache of 
confidential documents.
The accusations against Assange in 
Sweden have dogged him since the summer,
 before his organization began releasing
 portions of its huge trove of rifled State
 Department cables. The allegations stem
 from separate sexual encounters he
 had with two women in August, 
which Swedish prosecutors say may
 have involved molestation, 
"unlawful coercion" and rape.



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