Pentagon Blocking WikiLeaks Funding

Another centre of gravity?

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EVERYWHERE (Rixstep) — The Guardian revealed tonight the Pentagon have succeeded in cutting off WikiLeaks funding. British Internet payment company Moneybookers notified WikiLeaks their account was on the official US watchlist as well as the Australian government blacklist and therefore closed.

The blacklisting came only a few days after the first Pentagon outburst after the release of the Afghan War Diaries. The letter to Assange:

'Following an audit of your account by our security department, we must advise that your account has been closed to comply with money laundering or other investigations conducted by government authorities.'

Assange was told by Moneybookers Nordic manager Daniel Strömberg:

'When I did my regular overview of my customers, I noticed that something was wrong with your account and I emailed our risk and legal department to solve this issue.'

'Below I have copied the answer I received from them.'

'Hi Daniel, you can inform him that initially his account was suspended due to being accessed from a blacklisted IP address. However, following recent publicity and the subsequently addition of the WikiLeaks entity to blacklists in Australia and watchlists in the USA, we have terminated the business relationship.'

'This is likely to cause a huge backlash against Moneybookers', said Assange. 'Craven behaviour in relation to the US government is unlikely to be seen sympathetically.'

British Moneybookers is controlled by Investcorp of Bahrain. Their public relations firm 77PR said:

'We have never had any request, inquiry or correspondence from any authority regarding this former customer.'

Their response to mention of blacklists:

'We stick with our original statement.'

See Also
Investcorp
77PR/Seventy Seven
Twitter: 77PR/Seventy Seven
The Guardian: WikiLeaks funding blocked after government blacklisting
Moneybookers.com: Send Money, Receive Money, Online Payments, Money Transfers