BRISBANE, Australia, Dec 8 (Reuters) - The Australian government on Wednesday blamed the United States, not the WikiLeaks founder, for the unauthorised release of about 250,000 secret U.S. diplomatic cables and said those who originally leaked the documents were legally liable.

Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd also said the leaks raised questions over the “adequacy” of U.S. security over the cables.

“Mr Assange is not himself responsible for the unauthorised release of 250,000 documents from the U.S. diplomatic communications network,” Rudd told Reuters in an interview.

“The Americans are responsible for that,” said Rudd. (Reporting by Rob Taylor; Editing by Mark Bendeich)