#news: #WikiLeaks Online After Amazon Pulls

Breaking News

10:05pm UK, Wednesday December 01, 2010

Carole Erskine, Sky News Online

WikiLeaks is back online after Amazon stopped hosting the website which posted thousands of US government documents this week.

The site was down after US Senate Homeland Security Committee chairman Joe Lieberman said Amazon had been contacted about its relationship with WikiLeaks.

The site is now back up and running after moving to a Swedish provider and has published confidential cables on Russia.

The latest leaks say the leadership of Vladimir Putin has created a "virtual mafia state", while top officials collect bribes "like a personal taxation system".

It adds that Russian spies use mafia bosses to carry out criminal acts, such as arms trafficking.

Reports says WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is in the UK

WikiLeaks had taken up residence on Amazon's self-service web servers after internet-based attacks started against its Swedish host, Bahnhof.

WikiLeaks said on Twitter: "WikiLeaks servers at Amazon ousted.

"Free speech the land of the free--fine our $ are now spent to employ people in Europe."

It added: "If Amazon are so uncomfortable with the first amendment, they should get out of the business of selling books."

At a WikiLeaks event in London, a spokesman said he was unaware Amazon had stopped hosting the website and described the move as "disturbing".

Kristinn Hrafnsson said people had a right to know what officials working on their behalf were doing and added the disclosure of diplomatic cables was "perfectly legal".

But US officials said countless lives have been endangered by the release of the documents by WikiLeaks.

The Obama administration has also announced it will protect or relocate dissident and human rights activists whose lives may be at risk by the discloure of leaked US documents.

Sky News' Security Editor Sam Kiley said: "It is back up and running after being down for about four or five hours.

"It was kicked off the Amazon servers at the request of Senator Joe Lieberman.

"The issue, for me is how come it took the Americans so long to figure out WikiLeaks was being hosted in their own country and by Amazon no less. That seems extraordinary."

Amazon.com would not comment on its relationship with WikiLeaks.

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