WikiLeaks vows more leaks as U.S. steps up investigation

Video: US classified military files leaked on website

BEIJING, July 31 (Xinhuanet) -- The controversial WikiLeaks chief said on Friday that publication of its leaked Afghan war logs has emboldened the more whistleblowers to contact the organization and the group planned to post the new documents within weeks, the msnbc.com reported Saturday.

According to the report, WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange said in an interview with NBC News that the website has received a "wide variety" of fresh material, including documents on the oil giant BP and "internal abuses," including sexual abuse, within the U.S. military.

Meanwhile, the Obama administration implored WikiLeaks and its founder not to release further classified government documents.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told NBC's "Today" show there was little the government could do to halt the release of the papers,  according to Reuters report on Friday.

"We can do nothing but implore the person who has those classified top secret documents not to post anymore," Gibbs was quoted as saying,  "I think it's important that no more damage be done to our national security."

The U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the longstanding reports that WikiLeaks is in possession of a large set of U.S. diplomatic cables could not be confirmed.

U.S. officials are worried that the document leak might expose U.S. intelligence-gathering methods and endangered the lives of those who had assisted the United States.

Stepping up the investigation into the disclosure, the FBI announced Friday that it has transferred Army intelligence analyst Pfc. Bradley Manning, described as a “person of interest” in the probe — from Kuwait to Quantico, Va., the msnbc.com reported.

The website WikiLeaks publicly released more than 90,000 U.S. Afghan war records spanning a six-year period on Sunday.

(Agencies)

Related:

WikiLeaks highlights U.S. hurdles in run-up to Afghanistan withdrawal

WASHINGTON, July 27 (Xinhua) -- While Sunday's leak of more than 90,000 U.S. military documents divulged little new information, it highlights U.S.forces' uphill climb as they prepare for the July, 2011 deadline to begin withdrawing from Afghanistan.

The leak, posted on a website known as Wikileaks, came at a time when the White House is facing pressure from an increasingly war-weary public to make sure it is on track with the handover of security duties to Afghan forces. Full story

U.S. investigates Afghanistan war leaks

WASHINGTON, July 26 (Xinhua) -- White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs on Monday said the United States is investigating the leak of over 90,000 classified reports about Afghanistan war.

Gibbs said "there is an ongoing investigation that predated the end of last week into leaks of highly classified secret documents, " and President Barack Obama has been notified last week. Full story

Afghan gov't shocked by leakage of U.S. military reports

KABUL, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The chief spokesman of Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Monday said that the Afghan government was shocked by leakage of the U.S. military reports - a huge number of classified documents of its international partners.

"We were shocked by the facts that certain numbers, the huge number of documents were leaked," Waheed Omar told a weekly press conference here.  Full story

Pentagon reviews leaked documents, unsure of source

WASHINGTON, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The Pentagon on Monday said it is reviewing leaked documents related to the Afghanistan war on a whistleblower website, and it hasn't determined the leak's source yet.

Department spokesman Dave Lapan said the documents, more than 90,000 records of incidents and intelligence reports about the Afghanistan war, could "take a matter of days if not weeks" to review, so that officials can determine its potential damage to U. S. troops and allies, and national security.  Full story