Wikileaks donations account cut off

Pressure mounted today on WikiLeaks after the online payment agency PayPal cut off the account it uses to gather donations from supporters.

The move, which will hit the whistleblowing website’s ability to fund itself, comes after two American internet providers withdrew services from WikiLeaks in the wake of its publication of confidential US Government papers.

Meanwhile, the site’s founder Julian Assange remains under threat of extradition from the UK for questioning over sex allegations in Sweden.

WikiLeaks today published cables from the US Embassy in London which showed American officials mocking Britain for its “paranoia” over the state of the special relationship.

Deputy head of mission Richard LeBaron wrote that the anxiety had become particularly frenzied following Barack Obama’s election as President, with media reports that his removal of a bust of Winston Churchill from the Oval Office was seen as a sign of waning US commitment to Britain.

“This over-reading would often be humorous, if it were not so corrosive,” wrote Mr LeBaron.

It would be “tempting” to keep the British Government guessing about its standing in Washington, in order to “make London more willing to respond favourably when pressed for assistance”, suggested the diplomat.

But he concluded that “unparalleled” UK support for US global priorities made it vital to reassure the British public that the relationship remains strong.

The cables also revealed that senior Tories paraded their pro-American credentials in meetings with US diplomats ahead of this year’s election.

Foreign Secretary William Hague told Mr LeBaron that the Tories would be a “pro-American regime”, while Defence Secretary Liam Fox told ambassador Louis Susman that the special relationship would be “especially close in the defense sphere under Tory leadership”.

WikiLeaks has come under intense pressure from US politicians since beginning to publish extracts from a cache of 250,000 leaked State Department documents last week.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last night expressed “regret” for disparaging remarks about Britain’s military operations in Afghanistan in some of the leaked documents.

Mrs Clinton told the BBC: “I personally want to convey to the Government and the people of the United Kingdom both my deep respect and admiration for the extraordinary efforts and our regret if anything that was said by anyone suggested the contrary.”

PayPal said in a blog posting that its withdrawal of services to WikiLeaks was prompted by a violation of its policy, “which states that our payment service cannot be used for any activities that encourage, promote, facilitate or instruct others to engage in illegal activity”.

Attempts to donate via PayPal today were greeted by a message stating “this recipient is currently unable to receive money”.

WikiLeaks’ PayPal account redirects users to the German-based Wau Holland Foundation, which has reportedly collected around €750,000 towards the organisation’s expenses.

WikiLeaks’ website also provides details of how supporters can send donations by electronic bank transfer, credit card or post.

The site was moved to a Swiss host yesterday after the withdrawal of service by two US providers, and moves by Paris to ensure that it was not hosted in France.

There was speculation that Mr Assange, who is understood to be in England, may be facing imminent arrest under an international warrant obtained by Swedish prosecutors.

The 39-year-old Australian former computer hacker is wanted for questioning on allegations – which he strongly denies – of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion.