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28 November 2010
Last updated at 08:00 ET
A leak of US government documents will cause embarrassment to Prime Minister David Cameron and his predecessor Gordon Brown, the BBC has been told.
Guardian writer Simon Hoggart, whose newspaper is publishing the files, said they would show the PM was "not very highly regarded" by some in Washington.
The documents are among thousands leaked from State Department files by the Wikileaks whistleblowers' website.
The US government says these actions could put "countless" lives at risk.
The leak is expected to include documents covering US dealings and diplomats' confidential views of countries including Australia, Canada, Israel, Russia, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
'Candid views' Speaking on BBC One's Andrew Marr Show, Mr Hoggart confirmed the Guardian would be releasing extensive details of the files overnight.
He said: "It is going to give the candid American views of world leaders and indeed the reverse too.
"There is going to be some embarrassment, certainly for Gordon Brown, but even more so for David Cameron, who was not very highly regarded by the Obama administration or by the US ambassador here."
Earlier this week Wikileaks said release of files would be nearly seven times larger than the nearly 400,000 Pentagon documents related to the Iraq war it published in October.
The UK Ministry of Defence has urged newspaper editors to "bear in mind" the national security implications of publishing the information.
The US government has warned the leaks will threaten global counter-terrorism operations and jeopardise America's relations with its allies.
But Wikileaks argues that its previous releases shed light on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. They included allegations of torture by Iraqi forces and reports that suggested 15,000 additional civilian deaths in Iraq.
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Guardian writer Simon Hoggart, whose newspaper is publishing the files, said they would show the PM was "not very highly regarded" by some in Washington.
The documents are among thousands leaked from State Department files by the Wikileaks whistleblowers' website.
The US government says these actions could put "countless" lives at risk.
The leak is expected to include documents covering US dealings and diplomats' confidential views of countries including Australia, Canada, Israel, Russia, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
'Candid views' Speaking on BBC One's Andrew Marr Show, Mr Hoggart confirmed the Guardian would be releasing extensive details of the files overnight.
He said: "It is going to give the candid American views of world leaders and indeed the reverse too.
"There is going to be some embarrassment, certainly for Gordon Brown, but even more so for David Cameron, who was not very highly regarded by the Obama administration or by the US ambassador here."
Earlier this week Wikileaks said release of files would be nearly seven times larger than the nearly 400,000 Pentagon documents related to the Iraq war it published in October.
The UK Ministry of Defence has urged newspaper editors to "bear in mind" the national security implications of publishing the information.
The US government has warned the leaks will threaten global counter-terrorism operations and jeopardise America's relations with its allies.
But Wikileaks argues that its previous releases shed light on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. They included allegations of torture by Iraqi forces and reports that suggested 15,000 additional civilian deaths in Iraq.
Powered by WizardRSS | Best Membership Site Software