Australian Spies 'may have tracked WikiLeaks Founder'

SYDNEY (AFP) — Australian spy agencies may have

helped trace the movements of WikiLeaks founder

Julian Assange, whose whistleblowing website published
tens of thousands of secret US military files, reports

said on Friday.

Attorney General Robert McClelland said Australia

cooperated on security matters with international

bodies, but refused to say whether authorities had

shared information about the Australian-born

Assange.

“It’s not the sort of thing that I would comment on

, but again, we do cooperate with respect to a

number of matters internationally,” he said in

comments reported by the Sydney Morning Herald.

WikiLeaks in June released close to 77,000 files

from the US military about the Afghan war, some

of which alleged that Pakistani spies met the Taliban

and that deaths of innocent civilians by foreign forces

were covered up. The documents also included names

of some Afghan informants, prompting claims that the

leaks have endangered lives.

Assange has denied that the release of the confidential

documents had jeopardised the safety of people, telling

an audience in London on Thursday that the site aimed

to protect people.

“We do not have a goal of innocent people being harmed.

We have precisely the opposite goal,” he said at

London’s City University.

The 39-year-old, who has applied for a permit to live in

Sweden, has claimed that he is a victim of a “smear

campaign” aimed at discrediting his website over the

release of the secret US documents.

WikiLeaks is expected to reveal another 15,000

files shortly.

[Leaders do the right thing whereas

followers cover it up]

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