Bracing for WikiLeaks, US warns ‘friend’ India

India is among several countries briefed by US diplomats about an expected release of classified US files by the WikiLeaks website that is likely to cause international embarrassment and could damage some nations' relations with the United States.

The release of an estimated 3 million State Department cables is expected this weekend, although WikiLeaks has not been specific about the timing. The cables are thought to include private, candid assessments of foreign leaders and governments and could erode trust in the US as a diplomatic partner.

"We have reached out to India to warn them about a possible release of documents," State Department Spokesman P J Crowley told PTI. "We do not know precisely what WikiLeaks has or what it plans to do. We have made our position clear. These documents should not be released," Crowley said.

The whistleblower website is expected to put online leaked cables covering US dealings and confidential views of countries, including Australia, Britain, Canada, Israel, Russia and Turkey. US diplomats skipped their Thanksgiving holiday weekend and headed to foreign ministries hoping to stave off anger over the cables, which are internal messages that often lack the niceties diplomats voice in public.

It is not known what is contained in these documents about India-related issues. Crowley said: "They involve discussions that we've had with government officials, with private citizens. They contain analysis. They contain a record of the day-to-day diplomatic activity that our personnel undertake."

In Britain, PM David Cameron's spokesman, Steve Field, said Friday that the government had been told of "the likely content of these leaks" by US Ambassador Louis Susman. Field declined to say what Britain had been warned to expect.

The US 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 US Army's Bradley Manning, an intelligence analyst arrested in Iraq in June and charged over an earlier leak.

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