WikiLeaks founder denies imminent Iraq-war document dump

STOCKHOLM - The founder of WikiLeaks Tuesday dismissed a report that the website plans to publish a massive cache of US documents about the war in Iraq, calling it “a fabrication”.

The website has made a name for itself by publishing classified documents, notably in July when it released more than 90,000 secret US military reports on Afghanistan.

In an entry on the microblogging website Twitter, Julian Assange said recent reports about the Iraq release came from a “single tabloid blog at Wired Magazine”, which was subsequently picked up by other media outlets that had been “fooled”.

Wired is “a known opponent and spreader of all sorts of misinformation about WikiLeaks”, Assange wrote.

He underlined that “WikiLeaks does not speak about upcoming release dates”.

“Indeed, with very rare exceptions, we do not communicate any specific information about upcoming releases, since that simply provides fodder for abusive organisations to get their spin machines ready,” he added.

The Pentagon Monday said it has established a team of 120 people to review its own classified files in advance of the possible publication and was studying military documents that might have been leaked “to assess them for potential impact”.

Also Monday, the Swedish Migration Board said it had denied Assange a residency and work permit in Sweden, but declined to offer details.

Assange, an Australian national, had filed the application in August during a visit to Sweden. A few days later, it emerged that he had been accused of rape, a charge he has denied.