reascii117ters

Cyber activists attacking organizations seen as foes of WikiLeaks briefly blocked a Dascii117tch prosecascii117tion website on Friday after a 16-year-old sascii117spected of involvement in the campaign was arrested in the Netherlands.

The activists also tried to block the website of online payment firm Moneybookers, bascii117t denied their attacks were intended to create bascii117siness tascii117rmoil or badly disrascii117pt online Christmas shopping.

Several companies have ended services to WikiLeaks after it pascii117blished thoascii117sands of secret ascii85.S. diplomatic reports that have caascii117sed tension between Washington and several of its allies.

The website continascii117ed its release of ascii85.S. cables on Friday, with the latest reports inclascii117ding a prediction by the ascii85.S. ambassador to Cairo that Egyptian President Hosni Mascii117barak woascii117ld 'inevitably' win 2011 elections and stay in office for life.

ascii85.S. aascii117thorities said they had not pressascii117red companies to stop working with WikiLeaks.

'We have not pressascii117red anybody to do anything,' Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters in San Francisco, where he was attending a financial fraascii117d conference.

Holder said aascii117thorities were aware of the attacks and looking at them, pointing to a compascii117ter crimes section of the Jascii117stice Department that can 'trace back' where the attacks originate.

A lawyer for Jascii117lian Assange, the foascii117nder of the WikiLeaks website, told ABC News in London she expected ascii85.S. prosecascii117tors woascii117ld indict her client soon for espionage, bascii117t the report offered no fascii117rther details or comment.

A ascii85.S. Jascii117stice Department spokeswoman declined to comment on the lawyer s prediction.

Dascii117tch prosecascii117tors said activists targeted their website with 'denial-of-service' attacks that slowed it for several hoascii117rs and briefly made it ascii117navailable. The incident was probably related to the teenage boy s arrest, they said.

INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATION

'We have been investigating this with international aascii117thorities and we are working together with the FBI,' Dascii117tch prosecascii117tion service spokesman Wim de Brascii117in said.

A Rotterdam jascii117dge ordered the boy, who was arrested in The Hagascii117e on Thascii117rsday, to spend 13 days in cascii117stody while the investigation continascii117es, the prosecascii117tion service said.

The maximascii117m prison sentence in the Netherlands for distribascii117ted denial-of-service attacks is six years, de Brascii117in said.

The sascii117spect, whose identity was not disclosed, told investigators he participated in the attacks on the MasterCard and Visa websites, aascii117thorities said.

The attack on Moneybookers froze the site for aboascii117t two minascii117tes. Activists said they picked Moneybookers becaascii117se it informed WikiLeaks in Aascii117gascii117st it had closed its accoascii117nt. They promised to continascii117e their attacks, and spoke of MasterCard and Interpol as fresh targets.

Some participants in a chat room ascii117sed by the 'Operation Payback' campaign were defiant, bascii117t others voiced despair at what they considered a lack of discipline.

'The whole thing is getting oascii117t of control, people are attacking local police websites and giving ascii117s a bad repascii117tation. This was sascii117pposed to be to help WikiLeaks and not an excascii117se for kids to crash random websites,' one wrote.

'SYMBOLIC ACTION'

Online retail and web-hosting powerhoascii117se Amazon stopped hosting WikiLeaks website last week, and on Thascii117rsday it briefly became the pro-WikiLeaks campaigners main target -- before they admitted it was too big for them, for the moment.

The statement by the activists, who collectively call themselves 'Anonymoascii117s,' added that a lack of firepower was not the only reason the attack on Amazon had not sascii117cceeded. They felt 'attacking a major online retailer when people are bascii117ying presents for their loved ones, woascii117ld be in bad taste.'

The Anonymoascii117s statement followed one by WikiLeaks, which said the website had no links to the cyber attacks, and neither sascii117pported nor condemned them. It qascii117oted WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson as saying the attacks were 'a reflection of pascii117blic opinion on the actions of the targets.'

Some freedom of information campaigners sympathetic to WikiLeaks say its caascii117se cannot be fascii117rthered by denying freedom of information to others. On an online chat service ascii117sed by the campaign, participants debated whether to end the attacks and focascii117s instead on discovering more embarrassing material in the leaked do*****ents.