WikiLeaks rubbish, Assange mad: Mayawati

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Tuesday slammed WikiLeaks after it claimed, citing her top aide Satish Chandra Mishra, that she was a person with a “penchant for personal corruption” and “a strong authoritarian streak.

Addressing a press conference, BSP chief Mayawati said, “The claims made by the WikiLeaks are baseless, unfounded and have malicious intent. The media coverage by the website reflects its anti-Dalit mentality.”

Coming down heavily on WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, Maywati said, “It appears either the owner of the WikiLeaks has gone mad or working with our political opponents.”

“I urge the government of his country to send him to a mental asylum and if it is unable to do so, then it can send him to the mental asylum in Agra,” she said, adding, “This is a conspiracy to defame the honest party workers and to create an environment of distrust within the party.”

The Chief Minister, while urging her supporters not to believe in the claims made by the website, said, “Since Assembly Elections are approaching fast, this kind of political attacks will be a common sight in the days to come.”

As if to prove her point and display her resolve, Mayawati said that she won’t be deterred by WikiLeaks’ and will continue to give more prominence and protection to all her close aides.

The WikiLeaks had claimed that Satish Candra Mishra, who is one of Mayawati’s close aides, had termed her as someone who has a “penchant for personal corruption” and “a strong authoritarian streak”.

Mishra is considered by many as the “mastermind of UP social engineering” and someone who played an instrumental role in garnering the support of Brahmins, who command 13 percent of the vote in UP.

However, there have been reports of a rift between the two recently.

According to a secret US embassy cable, Mishra, who is BSP general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP, had made these utterances about her party chief during a meeting with US Embassy officials.

The cable, which was sent on May 29, 2007, described Mishra as “Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister’s right hand man” who is “fluent in English and serves as the principal interlocutor between the US Embassy and the BSP. He has graciously hosted Embassy officers at his house”.

The secret cable, which was sent just 16 days after Mayawati took oath as Chief Minister on May 13, 2007, states that Mishra “has been forthright and frank in his discussions, even to the point of acknowledging Mayawati’s penchant for personal corruption and her strong authoritarian streak.”

The cable also revealed that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister had very weak English language skills and limited exposure to non-Indians and that she was entirely uncomfortable interacting with Americans.

Mishra himself has strongly refuted the claims made by WikiLeaks and warned that he will take legal action against the whistle-blowing website.

Speaking to reporters, Mishra said, “I have never said anything which has been published by WikiLeaks about my party chief and Uttar Pradesh chief Minister. I suspect this is a political conspiracy to create an environment of distrust inside the party at a time when assembly elections are not too far.”

“I will pursue this case till end and take legal action in this regard,” he added.

Julian Assange's WikiLeaks says website was target of cyber attack

WikiLeaks said its website had been the target of a cyber attack late on Tuesday as it proceeded with the release of thousands of previously unpublished US diplomatic cables, some still classified.

"WikiLeaks.org is presently under attack," said a message on WikiLeaks' Twitter page, which is believed to be controlled by Julian Assange, the controversial Australian-born founder and chief of the whistle-blowing organization.

WikiLeaks later described the problem as "a cyber attack". In a subsequent message on its Twitter feed, it said the website was back up though some users were having problems accessing it.

The U.S. cables which the website said it is dumping onto the public record appear to be from a cache of more than 250,000 State Department reports leaked to the group. WikiLeaks began releasing the cables in smaller batches late last year, but until now had made them public in piecemeal fashion.

Several news organizations around the world, including Reuters, have had complete sets of the cables for months. But for the most part, media outlets have only cited or published cables when publishing specific news or investigative stories based on them.

A person in contact with Assange's inner circle told Reuters recently that dismay among WikiLeaks activists over media organizations lost interest in publishing stories based on the material was the rationale for the mass release of documents.

The source described Assange and his associates as "frustrated" at the lack of media interest.

Last year WikiLeaks and Assange were celebrated after their release of State Department cables, tens of thousands of other secret U.S. files, and a classified video of a contested American military operation in Iraq.

Since then public interest in WikiLeaks has waned. It may have suffered from publicity related to Assange's flight to Britain after sexual misconduct allegations were made against him in Sweden and a subsequent protracted extradition fight.

Assange, who has denied any wrongdoing, has also publicly feuded with former collaborators.

A person close to Assange said a British appeals court is due to rule early next month on his appeal against Sweden's extradition request. The source was unaware of any link between the latest document dump and the anticipated court decision.