JOIN USSpeaking via video link to an audience in London, Assange said the site was preparing to release the final 15,000 classified files, the remaining documents from a huge cache which were published last month. “We are about 7,000 reports in,” he said, without giving a date when the files would be released. Asked whether the website would press ahead with the release, he responded: “Absolutely.”
Pentagon pressure
His comments came despite renewed pressure from the Pentagon to withhold the material, and harsh criticism from media freedom group Reporters without Borders, which accused the site of “incredible irresponsibility.”
Speaking during a debate at the Frontline Club in the British capital, Assange said that WikiLeaks had received “no assistance, despite repeated requests, from the White House or the Pentagon”.
The Pentagon last week demanded WikiLeaks “do the right thing” and return around 70,000 classified US military documents on Afghanistan it released in late July. It also urged the website to halt plans for any future releases.
In a statement on Thursday, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said the “only responsible course of action for them is to immediately remove all the stolen documents from their website and expunge all classified material from their computers.”
Morrell said additional publications would be “the height of irresponsibility” and “would compound a mistake that has already put far too many lives at risk.”
The files contained a string of damaging claims, including allegations that Pakistani spies met directly with the Taliban and that deaths of innocent civilians at the hands of international forces were covered up.
But the documents also included the names of some Afghan informants, prompting claims that the leaks have endangered lives.