WikiLeaks says it's leaking over 500,000 Saudi documents

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By RAPHAEL SATTER

ISTANBUL (AP) — WikiLeaks is in the process of publishing more than 500,000 Saudi diplomatic documents to the Internet, the transparency website said Friday, a move that echoes its famous release of U.S. State Department cables in 2010.

WikiLeaks said in a statement that it has already posted roughly 60,000 files. Most of them appear to be in Arabic.

There was no immediate way to verify the authenticity of the documents, although WikiLeaks has a long track record of hosting large-scale leaks of government material. Many of the documents carried green letterhead marked "Kingdom of Saudi Arabia" or "Ministry of Foreign Affairs." At least one appeared to be from the Saudi Embassy in Washington.

If genuine, the documents would offer a rare glimpse into the inner workings of the notoriously opaque kingdom. They might also shed light on Riyadh's longstanding regional rivalry with Iran, its support for Syrian rebels and Egypt's military-backed government, and its opposition to an emerging international agreement on Tehran's nuclear program.

FULL story at link.



Supporters of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange hold placards during a vigil across the street from the Ecuador embassy in London, Friday, June 19, 2015. Julian Assange is marking the third anniversary of his stay inside Ecuador's London embassy. The WikiLeaks founder entered the building on June 19, 2012, to avoid extradition to Sweden for questioning about alleged sexual assaults. British police stand outside, ready to arrest him if he leaves. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/5619581b8cc34d338867eaf52278e05e/wikileaks-says-its-leaking-over-500000-saudi-documents

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

1. This is due some popcorn.

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[JDPriestly]

2. This will be very interesting. Not readily understandable but very interesting.

[erronis]

3. Bravo. Wonder if we can get some dumps from the country formerly known as the USSR.

Where Putin developed his chops in the KGB, infamous for interrogations, intimidation, and murders.

Jeez, that sounds like Comrade Cheney...

[bemildred]

4. Assange has cost taxpayer £11MILLION in security for his three-year stay at Ecuador embassy, Met pol

Julian Assange has been accused of ‘extreme arrogance’ today as it emerged the bill for stopping him escape justice has topped £11million.

The suspected rapist marked three years today since he sought asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy in central London.

The Wikileaks founder faces immediate arrest on a European Arrest Warrant issued by the Swedish authorities if he steps outside the building.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3131882/Arrogant-Julian-Assange-condemned-refusing-leave-Ecuador-s-embassy-face-justice-rape-allegations-Met-Police-reveal-cost-11million.html

[Beauregard]

13. Worth every pence. And more.

Julian is an anti-authoritarian hero. Of course, some authoritarians don't like that.

[bemildred]

15. I thought that was hilarious, the nerve of him not giving himself up.

Does he care nothing for the police budget?

[Beauregard]

34. Manners have suffered throughout this sordid business!

[daleo]

39. Police probably love him

He's like a giant make-work program for the security state.

[Doctor_J]

18. did you post in the wrong thread?

I can't figure out the connections between your post and the op

[bemildred]

19. You don't see the connection between Assange and Wikileaks? nt

[Doctor_J]

25. I don't see the connection between your opinion of the cost of Assange's prosecution and the

leak of Saudi documents.

[bemildred]

32. True, not much of a connection there. nt

[Beauregard]

35. Fun, though.

[Hissyspit]

22. Daily Mail means the British government has chosen to waste 11 million pounds for political reasons.

Their bad.

[bemildred]

23. I see all those cops standing around and I think how boring it must be.

And why are they doing it? Keeping him penned up like that. The only thing that I think makes sense is punishment. He is not silenced or likely to be more dangerous out and about, or a big threat in Ecuador, it's basically about appearances, he can't be seen to get away with it.

[Beauregard]

36. It's probably a punishment for cops that have screwed up.

Poaching from the evidence locker, Nigel? Right! Assange-guard duty for you! Now you get to stand up all day with a stick up your arse, doing nothing, innit? Serve you right!

[Demeter]

29. England could just stop

There's nothing and nobody gonna say or do anything about it if they do. There might be some faint quacking from a lame duck or two, but nothing earth-changing.

Sometimes, one has to be the adult in an abusive relationship, like that between the US and the UK...and walk away.

[Demeter]

30. suspected rapist?

Getting a little inflammatory (not to mention way beyond the facts of the case, such as they are), aren't we, Daily Mail?

[closeupready]

5. Yes, this should be quite interesting.

K&R

[Dopers_Greed]

6. Fascists of DU are going to be upset

They don't want corrupt governments being exposed.

[Raster]

26. Correction:

They don't want to see the corporate governments being exposed.

[LiberalLovinLug]

38. Can't have one without the other

[lostnfound]

7. Would be nice if it covered 2001. N/t

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

9. That's what I'm hoping.

Love to see what might come out from that year.

[-none]

16. Or even the years 1999 and 2000

[ananda]

20. Yeah, I would like to see the Bush connection too!

..

[-none]

21. We all know there is one... several there.

[nichomachus]

8. Off with their heads! n/t

[red dog 1]

10. K&R...Thanks for posting, Omaha Steve

Go WikiLeaks!


Interesting scene in Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" shows him standing on the public sidewalk across the street from the Saudi Embassy in D.C., and two Secret Service vehicles suddenly show up, and one Secret Service agent goes up to MM to inquire about why he is there.

The SS guy was very polite; but it makes one wonder why Secret Service would show up just because someone was shooting film across the street from the Saudi Embassy.

Why Secret Service and not D.C. police?

[lordsummerisle]

11. Speaking of Wikileaks

anyone have an update on the Julian Assange situation?

[bemildred]

12. Julian Assange says Swedish prosecutor is 'reckless' for scrapping interview

A Swedish prosecutor has cancelled an appointment to interview Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, according to the Wikileaks founder, who has been living in the building for nearly three years to avoid extradition.

Assange said Marianne Ny had led his lawyers to believe that an appointment to take a statement from him would take place on Wednesday and described the cancellation as reckless.

But Ny said the meeting would have to be called off because she had not received official permission from Ecuador to enter its London embassy.

“Some formal approval has not come, and it is unclear when the matter can be resolved,” the prosecutor Marianne Ny wrote to Assange’s lawyers at 3.47pm on Wednesday, in email correspondence seen by the Guardian. “It is therefore no longer necessary to carry out investigative measures this week.”

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/jun/17/julian-assange-says-swedish-prosecutor-is-reckless-for-scrapping-interview

[lordsummerisle]

37. thanks for the update. n/t

[bemildred]

14. ‘Erratic and secretive dictatorship’: WikiLeaks releases thousands of ‘top secret’ Saudi govt docs

WikiLeaks has begun publishing around half a million ‘Saudi Cables’ documents, which include communiques from the Saudi Foreign Ministry, as well as ‘top secret’ reports from the kingdom’s intelligence agency and Ministry of Interior.

On Friday, the whistleblowing website released the first tranche of around 70,000 documents.

According to the group’s statement, the ‘Saudi cables’ provide an insight into the kingdom’s interior and foreign policies explaining “how it has managed its alliances and consolidated its position as a regional Middle East superpower, including through bribing and co-opting key individuals and institutions.”

---

Commenting on the release, Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder said the documents “lift the lid on an increasingly erratic and secretive dictatorship that has not only celebrated its 100th beheading this year, but which has also become a menace to its neighbors and itself."

http://rt.com/news/268426-wikileaks-secret-saudi-documents/

[Doctor_J]

17. This should be good. maybe the Bush family should make some travel plans

[Raster]

27. We can only hope.

[Jack Rabbit]

24. Half a million documents from a corrupt and oppressive regime

[BlueEye]

28. I would expect the Iran files to be juicy.

If I'm not mistaken, the Saudis were asking Bush for airstrikes in the 2007-08 timeframe.

[forest444]

31. But let me guess:

None of Cheney's.

At this rate, it'll be 100 years before we know what really transpired around 9/11. But then, what else is new.

[Enthusiast]

33. This could get very interesting.

[LiberalLovinLug]

40. OMGOMGOMGOMG....

Isn't that illegal? What will the authorities say? What a bad bad man.

[riderinthestorm]

41. Some sunshine on one of the worst behind-the-scenes countries on the planet

This information can't come out soon enough.

Of course it puts the DU authoritarians in a bind - Must.Hate.Manning/Snowden.For.Doing.Same...

Way overdue for some disinfectant applied to the Saudis.

[Little Tich]

42. These documents were never meant to be released,

and the activities they describe were never meant to be known.

This will be total corruption at its finest. I wonder if the US will be implicated as well...

[bemildred]

43. Hillary's passport info released by Wikileaks

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's passport information was included in a trove of cables from Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry published online Friday by Wikileaks.

The Wikileaks cache of thousands of documents has information on Clinton, as well as other U.S. diplomats including Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland.

They show that Clinton often visited Saudi Arabia during her tenure at State from 2009-2013, including a March 2012 trip to meet the late King Abdullah and former Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal in Riyadh.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/245624-hillarys-passport-info-released-by-wikileaks

[Beacool]

44. She was the SOS.

Of course she visited Saudi Arabia. What's the issue here?