WikiLeaks about to hit the fan

For whistleblowers, government and press, the age of digileaks cries out for new rules on what to hide – and reveal
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Digileaks change democracy as graphite rackets changed tennis. Whether they make it better or worse will depend on the rules, the umpires and the players.

9 die in second attack on Fazlur Rehman after WikiLeaks expose
(Indo-Asian News Service, March 31, 2011)

Nine people were killed Thursday in a bombing that targetted Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, exposed last week by WikiLeaks for his offer to the US to mediate with the Taliban. It was the second attack on him in two days.

At least nine people were killed and 16 others were injured Thursday in the powerful bombing that took place in Charsadda district of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province when Rehman was passing through a busy street in a motor convoy.

Rehman was unhurt but some of his bodyguards were injured, said Nisar Marwat, the district police chief.

'Until now nine people are confirmed dead while 16 more are injured,' DPA quoted Marwat as saying.

Xinhua reported that those who died in the blast include three policemen and one woman, and many of the injured were in critical condition. The toll could rise.

Eyewitnesses said that a man blew himself up while the convoy carrying Rehman passed by. Rehman's car was damaged, but he himself remained unhurt in the attack.

It was the second attempt on Rehman's life.

On Wednesday, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives when Rehman was about to reach a political rally in Swabi district. Ten people were killed and 19 were injured in that attack.

The two attacks in quick succession came after a leading Indian newspaper March 26 accessed cables leaked by WikiLeaks that reveal Rehman had sent a message to the US embassy in New Delhi offering to mediate with the Taliban.

The Hindu newspaper reported that Muslim leaders in New Delhi stayed away from Fazlur Rehman when he visited the city in May 2006. He again visited the following year.

He then offered his services as a mediator between the US and the Taliban.

Rehman also sought the assistance of the Americans to help him play his 'rightful' role in the Pakistan government.

On May 3, 2007, assistant political counselor Atul Keshap reported (cable 106645: secret) his meeting with JuH leader Mahmood Madani.

Madani told the US official that Rehman had a 'pressing issue he wanted to discuss with US officials, but he was only interested in holding these talks outside of Pakistan', The Hindu reported.

He went on to say that Rehman 'could not speak freely in Pakistan, that he would say one thing in Pakistan and something else in India if asked'.

'Madani explained that Rehman was interested in acting as a go-between for the United States, to negotiate with the Taliban in order to bring them into the mainstream and peacefully into politics in Afghanistan. Madani said many of the Taliban were just caught up in the conflict and did not have a way out of it. Which Taliban members were willing to be involved and under what circumstances would have to be worked out in the negotiations.'

Ecuador says U.S. ambassador not welcome
(CNN Wire Staff, April 5, 2011)

The Ecuadorian government on Tuesday declared the U.S. ambassador in that country, Heather Hodges, persona non grata and asked her to leave as soon as possible, the state-run Andes news agency reported. The decision was based on a State Department cable made public by WikiLeaks, it said.

Eduador's foreign minister, Ricardo Patino, said that although the government is asking the ambassador to leave, she is not being officially expelled.

According to Patino, he had met with Hodges over the revelations in the leaked cable, which said Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa allegedly was aware of acts of corruption by the police high command.

Because the ambassador did not have a satisfactory response, the decision was made that she was not welcome in Ecuador, Patino said, according to Andes.

This act "is not against the government of the United States, but against a diplomat who made serious statements," Patino said.

The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to the development.

Patino said that during his meeting, he stressed to Hodges how upset the president was over the allegations, to which she declined to respond, saying only that it was information stolen from the U.S. government, Andes reported.

Quote:

Ecuador says U.S. ambassador not welcome
(CNN Wire Staff, April 5, 2011)
she declined to respond, saying only that it was information stolen from the U.S. government, Andes reported.

Ecuador Expels U.S. Ambassador – State Department Calls It “Unjustified”
(Agencia EFE, April 6, 2011)

WASHINGTON – The State Department expressed deep regret Tuesday over Ecuador’s “unjustified” decision to expel U.S. Ambassador Heather Hodges in a reaction to the contents of a leaked diplomatic cable about police corruption in Ecuador.

“The Department will examine its options to respond to this Ecuadorian action,” spokesman Charles Luoma-Overstreet said in comments to Efe.

The cable that spurred the diplomatic flap was disseminated by WikiLeaks and published Monday by Spanish daily El Pais.

“We have asked (Hodges) to leave the country in the shortest possible time,” Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño told a press conference earlier Tuesday in Quito.

He said the decision “is in no way intended to affect relations with the United States.”

Hodges is “one of one of our most experienced and talented diplomats,” State Department acting chief spokesman Mark Toner said after learning of Ecuador’s decision.

The spokesman said that the U.S. Embassy in Quito received Tuesday through diplomatic channels the official communication of the government of President Rafael Correa that the ambassador has been declared persona non grata.

Toner said the State Department has several different options for responding to the expulsion and that it would be “premature” to speculate about which one officials will choose.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will fight a British judge's decision to extradite him to Sweden over allegations of sexual assault in a two-day hearing in July, it was announced on Wednesday.

The hearing at the High Court in London will take place on July 12-13, the court said.

The founder of the whistleblowing website has claimed his greatest fear is eventual extradition to the United States.