Asia-Pacific

US 'vital facilities' list leaked

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-12-06 23:37

LONDON - WikiLeaks published details of sites around the globe which the United States considers vital to its interests, prompting criticism that the website is helping militants identify targets for attack.

The details are part of 250,000 diplomatic cables obtained by the campaigning website which are being made public.

The list begins with a cobalt mine in Kinshasa, Congo and refers to various locations in Europe where drug companies produce insulin, treatment for snake bites and foot and mouth vaccines.

In the Middle East, it notes that Qatar will be the largest source of imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) by 2012 and also refers to the Abqaiq facility in Saudi Arabia, the largest crude oil process and stabilisation plant in the world.

Al Qaeda mounted an unsuccessful attack on Abqaiq in 2006 and there were warnings that the WikiLeaks cable setting out so many sensitive targets could help militants.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague called the publication of the list "particularly reprehensible".

"There is great concern of course about disclosing a list of targets that could be of use to terrorists or saboteurs," he told BBC radio.

"I think it is absolutely reprehensible the publication is carried out without regard to wider concerns of security, the security of millions of people," he said.

CRITICISM OF WIKILEAKS

John J. LeBeau, a former CIA officer who teaches security studies at the George C. Marshall Center in Germany, said the list "might put ideas into jihadist heads as to what to profitably target."

"The real story here though, I think, is that putting this type of material online makes clear that WikiLeaks does not care about the consequences of its actions," he told Reuters.

"If the leaks complicate the security posture of the US, or the West in general, WikiLeaks is indifferent."

Professor Richard Aldrich of Warwick University in central England said it had the potential to help militants find targets in energy security.

"We're pointing out to them how they should change our behaviour to hurt us more," he told Reuters.

"This document has been given very wide currency. It's improbable to think that the terrorists are not taking notice."

The cable sets out details of facilities whose loss could impact the public health, economic or national security of the United States. It was drawn up after the State Department last year asked US missions abroad for a list of such sites.

It refers to places where undersea communications cables reach land and energy routes including the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline which runs from Azerbaijan to Turkey.