Sydney:
Australia condemned whistle-blower website WikiLeaks for threatening the "reckless" release of millions of classified American diplomatic cables, saying they could be a national security risk.
A foreign affairs spokesman on Saturday said the government had been briefed by the United States about the latest WikiLeaks deluge, which is expected to involve nearly three million private messages between diplomats.
"The government condemns the forthcoming publication of these leaks," the spokesman said.
"The reckless and large-scale exposure of classified material by WikiLeaks could put at risk individuals named in these documents and harm the national security interests of the United States and its partners."
Washington is bracing for potential embarrassment from the release of the cables, which are expected to cover confidential dealings with countries including Australia, Britain, Canada, Israel, Russia and Turkey.
WikiLeaks has not specified the documents' contents or when they would be put online, but a Pentagon spokesman said officials were expecting a release "late this week or early next week."
The website has said there would be "seven times" as many secret documents as the 400,000 Iraq war logs it published last month.
A foreign affairs spokesman on Saturday said the government had been briefed by the United States about the latest WikiLeaks deluge, which is expected to involve nearly three million private messages between diplomats.
"The government condemns the forthcoming publication of these leaks," the spokesman said.
"The reckless and large-scale exposure of classified material by WikiLeaks could put at risk individuals named in these documents and harm the national security interests of the United States and its partners."
Washington is bracing for potential embarrassment from the release of the cables, which are expected to cover confidential dealings with countries including Australia, Britain, Canada, Israel, Russia and Turkey.
WikiLeaks has not specified the documents' contents or when they would be put online, but a Pentagon spokesman said officials were expecting a release "late this week or early next week."
The website has said there would be "seven times" as many secret documents as the 400,000 Iraq war logs it published last month.
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