Pentagon demands WikiLeaks stuff genie back in bottle

Formal demand issued

The US Defense Department has formally asked WikiLeaks to delete all copies of military documents it has received and return any documents not yet published.

Julian Assange has already taken to Twitter to reject the offer.

The message said: "Obnoxious Pentagon spokesperson issues formal threat against WikiLeaks: Destroy everything, or else."

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell also dismissed Assange's claim that he had been in touch with the Defense Department to request help in redacting their own documents.

Morrell said this was a harm minimisation plan by the website and said: "WikiLeaks has made no such request directly to the Department of Defense."

Assange said this was disingenuous because the request had gone via the websites media partners the Guardian, New York Times and Der Spiegel. A further tweet promised a fuller response later.

The story was splashed by all three papers, but has since died a quick death because of the lack of any very solid information: except, it would appear, for names and GPS co-ordinates of US military informants, who now face the very real danger of reprisals from the Taliban or their allies. ®