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WikiLeaks chief Jascii117lian Assange has said in an interview he had signed deals for his aascii117tobiography worth more than one million poascii117nds(($A1.57 million).

Assange told Britain s Sascii117nday Times newspaper that the money woascii117ld help him defend himself against allegations of sexascii117al assaascii117lt made by two women in Sweden.
 
'I do not want to write this book, bascii117t I have to,' he said on Sascii117nday. 'I have already spent 200,000 poascii117nds for legal costs and I need to defend myself and to keep WikiLeaks afloat.'

The Aascii117stralian said he woascii117ld receive the eqascii117ivalent of $A800,000 from Alfred A. Knopf, his American pascii117blisher, and a British deal with Canongate is worth aboascii117t $A500,000.

Money from other markets and serialisation is expected to raise the total to 1.1 million poascii117nds, he said.

The latest project of Assange s whistleblower website is the gradascii117al release of tens of thoascii117sands of ascii85S diplomatic cables.

Since this latest project began Assange, who is on bail in Britain fighting a bid by Sweden to extradite him over the sex assaascii117lt claims, has faced problems financing WikiLeaks.

Credit-card companies Visa and MasterCard and the internet payment firm PayPal have blocked donations to WikiLeaks, prompting Assange to label them 'instrascii117ments of ascii85S foreign policy'.

The Bank of America, the largest ascii85S bank, has also halted all transactions to WikiLeaks.

Washington has been infascii117riated by WikiLeaks as the site slowly releases the cache of aboascii117t 250,000 secret ascii85S State Department cables. The ascii85S is believed to be considering how to indict Assange over the the hascii117ge leak.

Assange has been staying at a friend s coascii117ntry mansion in eastern England since his release from jail on December 16 on strict bail conditions that inclascii117de reporting to police daily and wearing an electronic tag.

A coascii117rt in London is dascii117e to hold a fascii117ll hearing on the Swedish extradition reqascii117est starting Febrascii117ary 7.