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13:13 GMT
LONDON, Dec 7 (KUNA) -- WikiLeaks said it will continue releasing the
leaked US embassy cables in spite of the arrest this morning of its founder,
Julian Assange, over allegations in Sweden of sexual offences, the Guardian
newspaper said Tuesday.
The whistleblowers' website has made arrangements to continue publishing
the classified documents, the airing of which has embarrassed the US
government.
The leaked cables have provided a daily flow of revelations about the
superpower's involvement in the most sensitive issues around the world,
including those affecting Iran, Afghanistan and China.
The decision to press on will help allay fears among Assange's supporters
that his arrest would hobble the organisation's work, the paper commented.
Assange has also pre-recorded a video message, which WikiLeaks is due to
release today.
But the Guardian understands the organisation has no plans to release the
insurance file of the remaining cables, which number more than 200,000.
It has sent copies of the encrypted file to supporters around the world.
Assange and his lawyers, Mark Stephens and Jennifer Robinson, attended a
London police station at 9.30am today, by appointment.
The 39-year old Australian was arrested under a European arrest warrant.
He is wanted by Swedish authorities to face one charge of unlawful
coercion, two charges of sexual molestation and one charge of rape, all
alleged to have been committed in August 2010. Assange and his legal team
kept changing the location of the planned arrest up until last night in a
successful bid to avoid a media scrum.
He is expected to appear at City of Westminster magistrates court later
today.
On 18 November, Stockholm's district court approved a request to issue an
international and European arrest warrant, which itself was disputed by
Assange's legal team. (end)
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