WikiLeaks publishes full cache of US cables

Anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks said yesterday it had published its full cache of more than 250,000 US diplomatic cables, which could be accessed through an Internet link without a password.
"RELEASE CABLEGATE2: 251,287 US embassy cables in searchable format," said a message on WikiLeaks' Twitter account.
It was not immediately clear whether WikiLeaks released all the cables without redacting them, as the group had threatened to do on Thursday.
The United States and human rights groups have warned that releasing unredacted cables containing the names of people who spoke in confidence to US diplomats could put the sources' lives in danger.
Despite repeated attempts by AFP, WikiLeaks could not be contacted for comment.
Meanwhile, WikiLeaks' media partners yesterday blasted the decision to publish unredacted its full cache of diplomatic cables, saying it was the decision of Julian Assange alone.
"We deplore the decision of WikiLeaks to publish the unredacted State Department cables, which may put sources at risk," said a joint statement from the Guardian, the New York Times, Der Spiegel and El Pais.
"We cannot defend the needless publication of the complete data -- indeed, we are united in condemning it.” "Today's decision to publish by Julian Assange was his, and his alone."
Assange, the Australian who founded WikiLeaks, is living under stringent bail conditions in Britain while he fights extradition to Sweden where he is wanted for questioning over allegations of rape and sexual assault.
Earlier yesterday, WikiLeaks said it had released the files, but they could not be easily accessed and required specialist software. However, several hours later a link was posted on Twitter offering easy access to the cables.
WikiLeaks infuriated Washington last week when it released 134,000 of the cables, with many showing the unprotected names of informants and other individuals who had spoken to US diplomats.
The release came after WikiLeaks conducted an online poll Thursday of its Twitter followers to decide whether to dump its entire cache of US diplomatic cables.
The site decided on the move following a row with Britain's Guardian newspaper, one of its former media partners, which it blames for leaking the entire cache by revealing the password.
The Guardian denied accusations by WikiLeaks that one of its journalists leaked the password.
The State Department said Thursday WikiLeaks had informed the United States in advance of the document releases, but ignored US appeals that making them public could endanger lives and put US national security at risk.