Downing Street: WikiLeaks is threatening national security



Hillary Clinton ordered diplomats to spy on UN - even asking for DNA



WikiLeaks confirms it DID come under cyber attack ahead of release



Saudi Arabia repeatedly urged U.S. to launch strike against Iran

Mervyn King: Both Cameron and Osborne show a 'lack of depth'

World leader verdicts: Putin like Batman and Ahmadinejad's Hitler



One of American's leading politicians today called for WikiLeaks to be reclassified as a terrorist organisation after the latest release of top secret intelligence documents.

Congressman Peter King, the incoming chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, claimed that the data breach was 'worse than a military attack.'

'I am calling on the attorney general and supporting his efforts to fully prosecute WikiLeaks and its founder for violating the Espionage Act,' the Republican said.

'Terrorists': WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (left) has been accused of threatening national security. Republican congressman Peter King (right) has called for extreme measures to deal with the organisation



He added he had written to the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to ask if the group could be classed as a terrorist organisation.

'(The release) has put American lives at risk all over the world,' he said.

'This is worse even than a physical attack on Americans, it's worse than a military attack.'

The Obama administration was today attempting damage limitation after the publication of 250,000 top secret documents from embassies across the world.

Highly embarrassing missives from American diplomats revealed their real impressions of world leaders and highly sensitive political discussions.

These included the revelations that Mrs Clinton had asked for surveillance of UN diplomats and that the Saudi royal family had urged an attack on Iran.

But the leaks so far appear to have been less damaging than first thought. Instead anger has turned on WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. He is already facing allegations of rape in Sweden and Australia police are considering if he had broken any laws in releasing the information.



Revelations: Files from the latest WikiLeaks release reveal how American diplomats thought Prince Andrew (left) was rude and David Cameron was branded a lightweight



There have also been claims that the U.S. is putting pressure on Australia to cancel Assange's passport. This was flatly denied by attorney general Robert McClelland.

Downing Street today condemned the disclosures but said that officials expected several more days of revelations.

'The leaks and their publication are damaging to national security in the United States and in Britain, and elsewhere,' a spokesman said.

The secret U.S. embassy cables describe how Bank of England governor Mervyn King described David Cameron and George Osborne as political lightweights who lacked depth.



In another memo, the U.S. embassy in London describing how a Labour minister was forced to apologise for sexually harassing a woman.

Staff described him a 'hound dog' around women, said that he had matrimonial difficulties and suffered from manic depression.

The confidential intelligence file said that the minister had been described as a 'bully' by a colleague, and his mood was changeable.

It added: 'Contacts who know him well report he has manic depressive tendencies - "he's very up one minute, very down the next".'

It added that information about 'bullying, possible depression and scandals, as well as comments on the stage of his marriage' were 'particularly insightful and timely'.

They said they were keen to find out more.

'We would greatly appreciate additional information, especially regarding how X works with [other ministers and officials], assessments of performance in office, and information on his political goals.'

Unflattering: Mervyn King (left) is alleged to have made derogatory comments about George Osborne before he became Chancellor

The identity of the minister - who is named in the files - is being withheld for legal reasons.

The Royals also came under scrutiny.

Washington's ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, Tatiana Gfoeller, described how Prince Andrew spoke 'cockliy' at a 2008 brunch with British and Canadian businessmen in the country's capital, Bishkek, leading a debate that 'verged on the rude'.



During the two-hour meeting, the prince, who travels the globe promoting British economic interests, accused the Serious Fraud Office of 'idiocy' for probing alleged kickbacks a senior Saudi royal had allegedly received in exchange for a lucrative BAE Systems contract to provide equipment and training to Saudi security forces.



The prince also mocked Guardian newspaper journalists investigating bribery.



Gfoeller's secret cable went on: 'Rude language a la British … [Andrew] turned to the general issue of promoting British economic interests abroad. He railed at British anti-corruption investigators, who had had the "idiocy" of almost scuttling the Al-Yamama deal with Saudi Arabia.



'His mother's subjects seated around the table roared their approval. He then went on to "these (expletive) journalists, especially from the National [sic] Guardian, who poke their noses everywhere" and (presumably) make it harder for British businessmen to do business. The crowd practically clapped.



'In an astonishing display of candour in a public hotel where the brunch was taking place, all of the businessmen then chorused that nothing gets done in Kyrgyzstan if President [Kurmanbek] Bakiyev's son Maxim does not get "his cut".



'Prince Andrew took up the topic with gusto, saying that he keeps hearing Maxim's name "over and over again" whenever he discusses doing business in this country.



'Emboldened, one businessman said that doing business here is "like doing business in the Yukon" in the 19th century, ie only those willing to participate in local corrupt practices are able to make any money. At this point the Duke of York laughed uproariously, saying that "All of this sounds exactly like France".'



Miss Gfoeller, who is fluent in six languages, could hardly disguise her disdain for Prince Andrew's intelligence.



She noted how the prince arrogantlly branded Americans as being ignorant of geography, and that anorexia sufferers needed to cure themselves.



Part of her memo back to Washington read: 'Again turning thoughtful, the prince mused that outsiders could do little to change the culture of corruption here. They themselves have to have a change of heart. Just like you have to cure yourself of anorexia. No one else can do it for you.



'He reacted with almost neuralgic patriotism whenever any comparison between the U.S. and UK came up. For example, one British businessman noted that despite the "overwhelming might of the American economy compared to ours" the amount of American and British investment in Kyrgyzstan was similar. Snapped the duke: "No surprise there. The Americans don't understand geography. Never have. In the UK, we have the best geography teachers in the world!".'



Buckingham Palace has so far refused to comment.



Despite a warning that leaking the documents would put 'many lives at risk', WikiLeaks went ahead with publication last night.



The leak immediately plunged America into a unprecedented diplomatic crisis as its astonishing secret verdicts on Britain and other countries around the world were revealed.

Most seriously for Washington, they also showed the U.S. had ordered a spying operation on diplomats at the United Nations, including British officials, in apparent breach of international law.

U.S. staff in embassies around the world were ordered by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to obtain frequent flyer numbers, credit card details and even iris scans, fingerprints and DNA of foreign officials.



Other revelations are expected to include

Strong criticism of the UK's military operations in Afghanistan

Attacks on both David Cameron and Gordon Brown, who is said to be branded 'unstable'

U.S. requests for specific intelligence on individual MPs

Alleged links between the Russian government and organised crime

Deep concern in Washington and London over the security of Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme

Strong pressure from the West's Arab allies for a military strike on Iran

Nicolas Sarkozy is called an emperor with no clothes and Vladimir Putin an alpha dog



Experts warned the revelation of repeated private calls from King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia for the United States to attack Iran to destroy its nuclear programme and 'cut off the head of the snake' risked destabilising the Middle East.

President Barack Obama is revealed in one damaging cable as having 'no feelings for Europe' and preferring to 'look East rather than West'.



Others reveal withering assessments of the U.S. of a long list of world leaders.



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The U.S. branded France's President Nicolas Sarkozy an 'emperor with no clothes' with a 'thin-skinned and authoritarian personal style', Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as an 'alpha dog' and Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as 'Hitler'.



Silvio Berlusconi of Italy's 'wild parties' were described by U.S. diplomats, who called him 'feckless, vain, and ineffective as a modern European leader'.



Another dispatch from Rome recorded the view that he was a 'physically and politically weak' leader whose 'frequent late nights and penchant for partying hard mean he does not get sufficient rest'.

Detailed in another document was Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi's fondness for a 'voluptuous' Ukrainian blonde he apparently employs as a 'nursing sister' and who accompanies him everywhere.



German Chancellor Angela Merkel is damned as 'risk aversive and rarely creative', while Dmitry Medvedev of Russia is a 'pale, hesitant' figure who 'plays Robin to Putin's Batman'.

President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan is said to 'float along on paranoia' and is dismissed as 'an extremely weak man who did not listen to facts but was instead easily swayed by anyone who came to report even the most bizarre stories or plots against him'.



Kim Jong-il, the ailing dictator of North Korea is described as a 'flabby old chap' who had suffered 'physical and psychological trauma'.



The White House has slammed the decision to publish the information.

Spokesman Robert Gibbs said President Obama supports open and accountable government, but the WikiLeaks was being 'reckless and dangerous'.

MIDDLE EAST TENSIONS: ARAB CALLS FOR U.S. TO ATTACK IRAN



Arab leaders urged the U.S. to attack Iran and end its nuclear weapons programme.

Saudi Arabia 'frequently exhorted' Washington to launch an air strike against the regime in Tehran, according to leaked documents.

In a report of a 2008 meeting with U.S. General David Petraeus, the Saudi ambassador to Washington said King Abdullah (pictured above with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) wanted the White House 'to cut the head off the snake' before Iran developed nuclear weapons and threatened its neighbours in the Middle East.

The secret document revealed that the Saudis demanded 'severe U.S. and international sanctions on Iran, including a travel ban and further restrictions on bank lending'.

It added that 'the use of military pressure against Iran should not be ruled out'.

King Abdullah was backed by the King of Bahrain who warned in a cable: 'The danger of letting it go on is greater than the danger of stopping it.'

And the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed, told the U.S. that he believed that Iran's tyrannical President Ahmadinejad was 'going to take us to war'.

The revelations will reverberate around the world and are likely to ratchet up tension in the Middle East.

The statements will bolster the case of Israeli and U.S. hawks who believe an attack against Iran will be necessary during the near future.

But they will also provoke President Ahmadinejad - referred to in one missive as 'Hitler' - to press on with his nuclear programme.

The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed earlier this year that Iran had produced its first small batch of higher-grade enriched uranium - stoking fears it was secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons capacity.

The cables also included a U.S. assessment that Iran was attempting to adapt rockets from North Korea for use as long-range ballistic missiles that could strike capitals in Western European.



'By releasing stolen and classified documents, WikiLeaks has put at risk not only the cause of human rights but also the lives and work of these individuals,' Gibbs said.

'We condemn in the strongest terms the unauthorised disclosure of classified documents and sensitive national security information.'

Today desperate efforts were being made on both sides of the Atlantic to shore up the special relationship in the wake of the revelations about the U.S. assessment of Britain.



There were no further details of the claims concerning the member of the British royal family or of the requests for intelligence about MPs, expected to emerge in the days ahead.



Criticism of British operations in Afghanistan were however said to be 'devastating', putting the U.S.-UK alliance under strain.



Remarks concerning Mr Cameron, who was said to have been deemed a 'lightweight' by U.S. President Barack Obama when the two first met, were described as 'serious political criticisms'.

The Obama administration told whistleblower WikiLeaks that its release of classified State Department cables will put 'countless' lives at risk, threaten global counterterrorism operations and jeopardise U.S. relations with its allies.



The State Department released a letter from Harold Koh, its top lawyer, to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and his attorney telling them that publication of the documents would be illegal and demanding that they stop it



He said the move would 'place at risk the lives of countless innocent individuals', 'place at risk on-going military operations,'and 'place at risk on-going cooperation between countries.'



'They were provided in violation of U.S. law and without regard for the grave consequences of this action,' he said.



The White House said that the disclosure of confidential diplomatic communications would 'deeply impact' U.S. foreign interests.



In London, the Foreign Office also condemned the leaks and was forced to insist they would not undermine the special relationship between the U.S. and UK.



'We condemn any unauthorised release of this classified information, just as we condemn leaks of classified material in the UK,' a spokesman said.



'They can damage national security, are not in the national interest and, as the U.S. have said, may put lives at risk. We have a very strong relationship with the U.S. Government. That will continue.'



Italy's foreign minister Franco Frattini said the files would 'blow up the relationship of trust between states', adding: 'It will be the September 11th of world diplomacy.'



The U.S. says it has known for some time that WikiLeaks held the diplomatic cables. No one has been charged with passing them to the website, but suspicion focuses on Welsh-born U.S. Army Pfc.

Bradley Manning, an intelligence analyst arrested in Iraq in June and charged over an earlier leak.

He told a fellow hacker he would come into work with a CD labelled 'Lady Gaga' and downloaded intelligence in 'possibly the largest data spillage in American history'.



Manning is said to have told a fellow hacker: 'Information should be free. It belongs in the public domain.'



Intended to be read by officials in Washington up to the level of the Secretary of State, the cables are generally drafted by the ambassador or subordinates.



They are marked 'Sipidis' - secret internet protocol distribution - and are classified at various levels. The most sensitive are marked 'SECRET NOFORN' [no foreigners].



WikiLeaks claimed last night it had come under attack from a computer-hacking operation ahead of the release of secret U.S. documents.



'We are currently under a mass distributed denial of service attack,' it said on its Twitter feed.

HOW HILLARY ORDERED UN SPY MISSION



Hillary Clinton ordered American officials to spy on high ranking UN diplomats, including British representatives.



Top secret cables revealed that Mrs Clinton, the Secretary of State, even ordered diplomats to obtain DNA data – including iris scans and fingerprints - as well as credit card and frequent flier numbers.



All permanent members of the security council – including Russia, China, France and the UK – were targeted by the secret spying mission, as well as the Secretary General of the UN, Ban Ki-Moon.



Work schedules, email addresses, fax numbers, website identifiers and mobile numbers were also demanded by Washington.



Damage control: L-R David Cameron, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama at the Nato summit in Lisbon on November 19. The new WikiLeaks release is set to put strain on the 'special' relationship

The U.S. also wanted ‘biographic and biometric information on UN Security Council permanent representatives’.



The request could break international law and threatens to derail any trust between the US and other powerful nations.



Requests for IT related information – such as details of passwords, personal encryption keys and network upgrades - could also raise suspicions that the US was preparing to mount a hacking operation.



It is set to lead to international calls for Mrs Clinton to resign.



The fishing expedition was ordered by Mrs Clinton in July 2009, but followed similar demands made by her predecessor, Condoleeza Rice.



Mrs Clinton called for biometric details ‘on key UN officials, to include undersecretaries, heads of specialised agencies and their chief advisers, top SYG [secretary general] aides, heads of peace operations and political field missions, including force commanders’.



She also wanted intelligence on Ban Ki-Moon’s ‘management and decision-making style and his influence on the secretariat’.



Cables were sent to US embassies in the UN, Middle East, Eastern Europe and Latin America.

America has always handed over information about top foreign officials to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).



NELSON MANDELA'S FURY OVER THATCHER MEETING Nelson Mandela was furious that he was banned from meeting Margaret Thatcher and criticising her policies to her face, according to a leaked secret cable.

Plans to meet Mrs Thatcher in 1990 just months after he was released after 27 years in prison were vetoed by his party, the African National Congress.

A secret cable from America claimed that Mr Mandela was ‘furious’ with top adviser Zwelakhe Sisulu for persuading the ANC leadership to veto his plans.

Mr Mandela had wanted to criticise Mrs Thatcher’s policy of ‘constructive engagement’ with the then apartheid regime.

A leaked cable from the U.S. embassy in Pretoria said: ‘We understand Mandela was keen for a Thatcher meeting but that Sisulu argued successfully against it.’

Mrs Thatcher had described Mr Mandela and the ANC as terrorists during their struggle against apartheid in the 1980s.

But the request by Mrs Clinton paves the way for officials to be more closely spied upon, with even their travel plans tracked by US diplomats.



In what could discredit the US’s role in the Middle East peace process, missions in Israel, Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Egypt were asked to gather biometric information ‘on key Palestinian Authority and Hamas leaders and representatives, to include the young guard inside Gaza, the West Bank’.



Details of the US spying mission were sent to the CIA, the US Secret Service and the FBI under the heading ‘collection requirements and tasking’. International treaties ban spying at the UN.



The 1946 UN convention on privileges and immunities states: ‘The premises of the United Nations shall be inviolable. The property and assets of the United Nations, wherever located and by whomsoever held, shall be immune from search, requisition, confiscation, expropriation and any other form of interference, whether by executive, administrative, judicial or legislative action.’



The American ambassador to Britain, Louis Susman said he ‘condemned’ the disclosures and that the US government was ‘taking steps to prevent future security breaches’.



He also claimed the disclosures had 'the very real potential to harm innocent people" but insisted the cables ‘should not be seen as representing US policy on their own’.



He said the leaks were ‘harmful to the US and our interests’ adding, ‘However, I am confident that our uniquely productive relationship with the UK will remain close and strong, focused on promoting our shared objectives and values.

U.S. State Department spokesman PJ Crowley said Mrs Clinton had warned leaders in Britain, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan and China about the cables, revealed by investigators at the WikiLeaks website.



Canada, Denmark, Norway and Poland had also been warned.