Clinton: WikiLeaks won't hurt U.S. diplomacy

ASTANA, Kazakhstan — The leak of thousands of sensitive U.S. embassy cables will not hurt American diplomacy, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton declared Wednesday at a security summit.

Clinton said she has discussed the revelations published on the WikiLeaks website with her colleagues at the summit in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. The event is the first major international meeting of leaders and top diplomats since the memos began appearing on the website and in international publications this week.

The secret memos published by WikiLeaks contain frank details on several leaders attending the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe meeting. One note allegedly written by a U.S. diplomat in Kazakhstan details scenes of hard-drinking hedonism by several senior Kazakh ministers. The same report describes Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev as horse-obsessed and given to taking refuge from the often-frigid capital at a holiday home in the United Arab Emirates.

Other prospective conference delegates described less than flatteringly in the leaked cables include Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev .

"I have certainly raised the issue of the leaks in order to assure our colleagues that it will not in any way interfere with American diplomacy or our commitment to continuing important work that is ongoing," Clinton said. "I have not any had any concerns expressed about whether any nation will not continue to work with and discuss matters of importance to us both going forward."

Several officials at the summit echoed her comments.

British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who met Wednesday with Clinton, released a statement saying the "recent Wikileaks disclosures would not affect our uniquely strong relationship."

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Kazakh Foreign Minister Kanat Saudabayev also said "this will have no bearing on our strategic relationship."

'A lot of questions'
The Obama administration has harshly criticized the leaking of the cables, saying the details in them could put lives at risk.

"I anticipate that there will be a lot of questions that people have every right and reason to ask, and we stand ready to discuss them at any time with our counterparts around the world," Clinton added.

Meanwhile, the mother of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said Wednesday she was distressed by an international police alert for her son's arrest and did not want him "hunted down and jailed."

Global police agency Interpol issued a "red notice" on Tuesday to assist in the arrest of Assange, founder of the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks, who is wanted in Sweden on suspicion of sexual crimes .

Assange, 39, a former computer hacker now at the center of a global controversy after WikiLeaks released a trove of classified U.S. diplomatic cables at the weekend, denies the Swedish allegations.

Christine Assange, who runs a puppet theatre in Australia's Queensland state, said she was worried about her son's wellbeing as Australia's government joined the United States in launching an investigation into whether Assange and WikiLeaks had broken security or criminal laws.

'I'm distressed'
"He's my son and I love him and obviously I don't want him hunted down and jailed. I'm reacting as any mother would. I'm distressed," she told Australian radio. "A lot of stuff that's written about me and Julian is untrue."

Assange has gone underground since WikiLeaks controversially began publishing more than 250,000 secret U.S. government documents.

However, Assange's U.K.-based lawyer Mark Stephens told NBC News on Wednesday that "the police know where and how to get in touch with Mr Assange."

Assange's arrest warrant was issued by Sweden's International Public Prosecution Office in Gothenburg on Nov. 18.
Story: WikiLeaks: Blackwater anti-piracy plan worried U.S.

On Tuesday, once-secret U.S. diplomatic memos revealed Western concerns that Islamist militants might get access to Pakistan's nuclear material and American skepticism that Islamabad will sever ties to Taliban factions fighting in Afghanistan.
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They also showed U.S. doubts over the abilities of the weak, unpopular civilian government. The army chief is shown to be an important behind-the-scenes political player who once talked about ousting President Asif Ali Zardari, who himself is said to have expressed concern the military might "take me out."

The revelations were published Tuesday by newspapers working together with WikiLeaks. Britain's Guardian newspaper published many of the revelations on its website.

U.S. and Western officials have expressed concern over Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, given the threat posed by al-Qaida and Taliban militants, but in public have generally said they believed it was safe.
Video: WikiLeaks increases urgency over nukes (on this page)

In a Feb. 4, 2009, document, then-U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson wrote that "our major concern is not having an Islamic militant steal an entire weapon but rather the chance someone working in GOP (government of Pakistan) facilities could gradually smuggle enough material out to eventually make a weapon."

U.S. National Intelligence Officer for South Asia Peter Lavoy told NATO representatives in November 2008 that despite pending economic catastrophe, Pakistan is producing nuclear weapons at a faster rate than any other country in the world.

The memos also provide insight into American views on Pakistan's efforts to fight