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           WikiLeaks to Post More Than 500,000 Saudi Documents Online

   by VOA News

   The transparency website WikiLeaks said Friday that it had posted
   60,000 diplomatic cables from Saudi Arabia online and would be
   releasing around half a million documents in tranches of tens of
   thousands in the coming weeks.

   The move followed WikiLeaks' release of U.S. State Department cables in
   2010.

   There was no immediate way to verify the authenticity of the documents,
   and there was no comment from the Saudi Embassy in Washington.

   Friday's release came on the third anniversary of the day that
   WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange sought refuge in Ecuador's embassy in
   London to avoid extradition to Sweden for alleged sex crimes.  He
   denies the accusations.

   Assange has said he fears Sweden will hand him over to the United
   States, where he most likely would face trial for one of the largest
   leaks of classified material in U.S. history.  Assange faces arrest if
   he steps outside the embassy.

   According to WikiLeaks, it is publishing cables and other documents
   from the Saudi Foreign Ministry that contain secret communications from
   various Saudi embassies around the world, including "top secret"
   reports from other state institutions such as the Ministry of the
   Interior and General Intelligence Services.

   "The Saudi cables lift the lid on an increasingly erratic and secretive
   dictatorship that has not only celebrated its 100th beheading this
   year, but which has also become a menace to its neighbors and itself,"
   Assange said in a statement.

   WikiLeaks also said the Saudi cables provide key insights into the
   kingdom's operations and how it has managed its alliances and
   consolidated its position as a regional Middle East superpower,
   including through bribing and co-opting key individuals and
   institutions.

   The cables also illustrate the highly centralized bureaucratic
   structure of the kingdom, where even the most minute issues are
   addressed by the most senior officials, WikiLeaks said.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/wikileaks-post-saudi-documents-online
   /2829795.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/wikileaks-post-saudi-documents-online/2829795.html