JULIAN Assange, the man behind WikiLeaks, today launched a wide ranging series of attacks on both his enemies and allies as he defended his public and private conduct.
In his first UK newspaper interview since releasing hundreds of secret diplomatic cables last month, Mr Assange told The Times he predicts the US will face reprisals if it attempts to extradite him on conspiracy charges.
He accused his media partners at The Guardian newspaper, which worked with him to make the embarrassing leaks public, of unfairly tarnishing him by revealing damaging details of the sex assault allegations he faces in Sweden.
He insisted that the women behind the claims were motivated by revenge.
Mr Assange said he had enough material ready to destroy the bosses of one of the world’s biggest banks.
Speaking from the English mansion where he is confined on bail, the 39-year-old Australian said that the decision to publish incriminating police files about him was "disgusting". The Guardian had previously used him as its source for hundreds of leaked US embassy cables.
Mr Assange is understood to be particularly angry with a senior reporter at the paper and former friend for "selectively publishing" incriminating sections of the police report, although The Guardian made clear that the WikiLeaks founder was given several days to respond.
Mr Assange claimed the newspaper received leaked documents from Swedish authorities or "other intelligence agencies" intent on jeopardising his defence...
"The leak was clearly designed to undermine my bail application," he said. "Someone in authority clearly intended to keep Julian in prison."
He denied allegations of sexual assault and said that the allegations by two Swedish women he met in August "came from nowhere".
Mr Assange was arrested and held in Wandsworth prison after Swedish authorities issued an extradition request. He was released on bail last week on a surety of £275,000 ($US427,872).
He said that he still had not seen the full extent of the allegations against him, although he accepted that his Swedish lawyer had been handed many of the details.
When asked if he was promiscuous, he replied: "I’m not promiscuous. I just really like women."
Mr Assange also confirmed that WikiLeaks was holding a vast amount of material about a bank which it intends to release early next year..
Shares in Bank of America recently fell after speculation spread that it was the target.
"We don’t want the bank to suffer unless it’s called for," Mr Assange said. "But if its management is operating in a responsive way there will be resignations."
US officials are reportedly searching for ways to extradite him on espionage charges. Vice President Joe Biden recently called the WikiLeaks founder a "high-tech terrorist".
Mr Assange said that he believed that the US situation would "turn around absolutely" as a groundswell of favourable opinion grew in America.
"The people in power are organised and were able to respond quickly," he said. "But numerically they are not that strong and our support in the general population is tremendous."
Mr Assange's interview follows revelations that police feared he would be assassinated on the front steps of London's High Court.
He revealed earlier he was told to keep a statement celebrating his freedom brief due a perceived threat on his life.
The police concerns emerged as Mr Assange revealed further details about his prison stay - including that he was housed alongside paedophiles and found support among prison guards.
BOSS (8)
The millionaire owner of the UK Segway company has died after apparently riding one of his company's motorised scooters off cliffs and into a river.
Jimi Heselden, 62, crashed into the River Wharfe while riding the vehicle round his estate in Thorp Arch, Boston Spa, West Yorkshire, on Sunday.
He was pronounced dead at the scene. The scooter was found in the water.
Mr Heselden, who founded Leeds-based company Hesco Bastion, acquired the Segway operation in 2010.
A spokeswoman for West Yorkshire Police confirmed Mr Heselden's identity.
She said: "Police were called at 1140 yesterday to reports of a man in the River Wharfe, apparently having fallen from the cliffs above."
She said a "Segway type" vehicle had been recovered.
Charity donationsMr Heselden grew up in the Halton Moor area of Leeds, leaving school at 15 and working down local pits.
He worked as a miner before losing his job in a wave of redundancies in the 1980s.
His engineering business went from strength-to-strength and he had a fortune reported to be £166m, making him one of the top 400 richest people on the UK.
The tycoon was well known for his donations to charity, giving more than £20m to good causes.
Earlier this month he donated £10m to the Leeds Community Foundation..
A spokesperson for Hesco Bastion said: "It is with great sadness that we have to confirm that Jimi Heselden OBE, has died in a tragic accident near his home in West Yorkshire."
The spokesperson added: "Jimi is perhaps best known for his charity work with Help for Heroes and the Leeds Community Foundation.
"A £10m gift to the foundation earlier this month saw his lifetime charitable donations top £23m.
"Our thoughts go out to his family and many friends, who have asked for privacy at this time."
A Lagos High Court, on Monday, sentenced a former boss of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Bello Lafiaji, to 16 years imprisonment for abuse of office and conspiracy. His erstwhile special assistant, Usman Amali, also bagged a seven-year jail term.
The Independent Corrupt Practices Commission and other related matters (ICPC) had arraigned both Mr. Lafiaji and Mr. Amali in 2008, on a seven-count charge of abuse of office and conspiracy. The Anti-graft body said the duo had in November 2005 conspired and unlawfully received 164,300 euros from a drug suspect identified as Ikenna Onochie, to secure Mr. Onochie’s release from NDLEA’s custody. The two defendants had severally pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The money, which was also alleged to ensure the release of the suspect’s impounded cars, was part of the exhibits seized from the suspect’s house while he was arrested for being in possession of 3.2kg of cocaine and heroin.
Mr. Onochie is currently facing trial for drug trafficking at the Federal High Court, Ikoyi.
Ruling on the judgment, Olusola Williams, (a Justice of the Federal High Court) held that the prosecution had successfully proved that the release of Mr. Onochie from custody was irregular.
“The court finds the two defendants guilty for receiving money for personal benefits. The prosecution has proved its case and they are as guilty as charged. The court holds that there was an agreement between the defendants to do what they did,” she declared.
Mrs. Williams, while commending the former NDLEA boss for his role in uplifting the standard of the anti-drug agency, said he allowed his reputation to be tarnished because of personal gains.
As for the second defendant, the special assistant to Mr. Lafiaji, the judge said, “he appeared to have followed his master blindly,” she said.
Mrs. Williams said she found the defendants guilty in six of the seven-count-charge and ruled that “Lafiaji is sentenced on counts one to four for four years each, while for counts six and seven, he is sentenced to two years each.”
Also, according to her ruling, “Amali is sentenced to two years each on counts one and two, while on counts three, four and six, he is sentenced to one year each”, Williams concluded. The sentences are to run concurrently.”
SSS quizzes ex-NNPC boss, Barkindo * Seizes passports of Yar'Adua's men *FG restricts movement of ex-ministers *Aondoakaa delayed at airport
FACTS emerging in Abuja indicated that security agencies have opened up investigations into activities of the immediate past Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Mohammed Barkindo..
advertisement
Sources said that he was being probed on the orders from above over alleged misdemeanour while in office.
It was gathered that operatives of the State Security Services (SSS) and the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) were involved in the ongoing probe and that the former NNPC boss was questioned by some officials of the SSS in Abuja last week.
It was learnt that the former NNPC boss was being investigated over alleged anti-government activities, especially the purchase of some high calibre equipment which were not covered under the budget of his corporation.
It was gathered that the NNPC boss was fingered as one of the alleged sponsors of the widely discussed cabal around ailing President Umaru Yar'Adua.
Sources said that the organisations had been investigating some officials and their link with the importation of certain equipment in the build-up to the surreptitious return of ailing President Yar'Adua to Nigeria.
Some life support machines were brought into the country through the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja and the Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano without inspection by men of Customs.
Investigations had linked some top Nigerians and a retired general to the importation but details were still being pieced together when Barkindo was sacked.
A source said that Barkindo had appeared before a team of SSS operatives to answer questions on certain issues last week.
It was also learnt that the ex-NNPC boss was also being investigated over certain issues relating to the oil industry.
For instance, a source said that the agencies wanted to know whether there was a deliberate sabotage by some forces at NNPC, as it took a threat from the former minister before sanity returned to the oil supply chain
Said the source: "We have it on good authority that security operatives are looking for details relating to the sources of funding for the shipment of certain security equipment. It is necessary to get to the root of some of these things for the sake of the nation's future."
There were reports that the shipment of a particular equipment through Aminu Kano International Airport led to a row within the Customs because the equipment was said to have been moved into the country without due inspection by men of the Customs.
Sources said that the said equipment was allowed to enter Nigeria through Aminu Kano Airport, though the owners refused to disclose what was in the container and that a retired general had to intervene to ensure passage.
It was also learnt that the international passports of members of the cabal, who are already being investigated by the security operatives, had been seized by the government.
A source said that the passports of close presidential aides, who are regarded as members of the kitchen cabinet or the cabal around Yar'Adua, had been being seized by the security agents.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has restricted the movement of all former ministers, as well as those currently serving in the cabinet, for close monitoring.
It was gathered that the order was said to have been forwarded to security officials at all airports and borders so as to prevent those who were still being investigated from travelling outside the country.
It was also learnt on Sunday that the former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr Mike Aondoakaa, became the first victim of the directive, when his protocol officer was barred from checking in his luggage for a trip to Rome at the Abuja airport.
It was gathered that Aondoakaa's aide had gone to the airport to check in his luggage for a trip to attend a programme of the United Nations.
A source confirmed that the aide was told he could not check in the luggage as he could not produce a clearance from the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) for the purpose.
One source close to the ex-minister said the former Attorney-General got in touch with the office of the NSA, where he was fully briefed of the new directive.
According to sources, Aondoakaa was told that no former minister was allowed to travel out of the country without a clearance from the NSA.
He was also told that the directive did not exclude serving ministers and that what he needed to do was to apply to the office of the NSA for clearance.
A source said Aondoakaa immediately applied and his clearance was released on Sunday evening.
A source said the former minister informed the NSA that he was due for a meeting at the UN Informational Institute for the Unification of Private Law and he was representing both Nigeria and the African Union (AU).
It was gathered that the directive to security agencies was in line with the decision to probe the activities of all former ministers and while some of those people with critical cases would have their passports seized, those who were only under investigation would be required to secure clearance from the NSA whose office would confirm the status of the affected minister and either approve the trip or refuse clearance as appropriate.
