Interpol warrant for WikiLeaks chief as chaos spreads

The global police agency INTERPOL said Wednesday it had alerted member states to arrest WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange on suspicion of rape on the basis of a Swedish arrest warrant."There is a public 'Red Notice' on behalf of Sweden," a spokeswoman told AFP, confirming that INTERPOL had posted Sweden's request for assistance in tracking down the 39-year-old Australian on its website.

Interpol on Wednesday issued a global arrest warrant for the shadowy founder of WikiLeaks, as the chaos from its massive dump of secret US cables spread from governments to financial markets.The United States suspended the military's access to some sensitive US diplomatic correspondence in a bid to stop new leaks, as the leaders of France and Pakistan were the latest to be stung by cables obtained by the website.

Interpol on Wednesday issued a global arrest warrant for the shadowy founder of WikiLeaks, as the chaos from its massive dump of secret US cables spread from governments to financial markets.The United States suspended the military's access to some sensitive US diplomatic correspondence in a bid to stop new leaks, as the leaders of France and Pakistan were the latest to be stung by cables obtained by the website.

Leaked memos Wednesday exposed deep tensions between the United States and Pakistan on nuclear arms safety, and revealed how the army considered forcing out a president who dreads his own assassination.Pakistan dismissed fears that its nuclear weapons could fall to terrorists, issuing a terse statement indicative of widening international uproar over website Wikileaks' decision to release a quarter of a million secret US cables."Their fears are misplaced and doubtless fall in the realm of condescension," foreign office spokesman Abdul Basit told AFP.

In the seven years since he founded WikiLeaks, Julian Assange's relationships with a number of his former collaborators and supporters have broken down, with each side variously claiming broken promises or bad faith on the part of the other.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is wanted in Sweden where he has been accused of rape, the prosecutor's office said Saturday."Julian Assange is wanted for two different issues, one of them is that he's suspected of rape in Sweden," the director of communications Karin Rosander told AFP.He was unable to say what the other accusation was or whether the search warrant was international.According to the Swedish daily Expressen, the 39-year-old Australian is also wanted for assaulting a woman.

Australian intelligence services had warned WikiLeaks of "dirty tricks" before Swedish authorities issued a short-lived arrest warrant for founder Julian Assange over a rape claim, he said Monday."We were warned on the 11th (of August) by Australian intelligence that we should expect this sort of thing," Assange said in a telephone interview with broadcaster Al-Jazeera from a secret location in Sweden.