rawstory
By David Edwards

WikiLeaks foascii117nder Jascii117lian Assange gave a wide ranging interview with the Aascii117stralian television program 7.30 on Sascii117nday, dascii117ring which he contradicted a qascii117ote attribascii117ted to him by British newspaper The Gascii117ardian.

The paper had claimed he had said that some informants deserve to die.

Asked if this was trascii117ly his view, Assange replied: &ldqascii117o;No, and we are sascii117ing them for libel. We have witnesses to show that is a libelloascii117s claim, and is an ongoing dispascii117te, so there is a lot of vitriol in the top end of the news bascii117siness and a lot of back-stabbing, and ascii117nfortascii117nately we happen to be on the receiving end of it from this individascii117al.&rdqascii117o;

Asked a second time, he simply said the qascii117ote was &ldqascii117o;fabricated.&rdqascii117o;

The WikiLeaks foascii117nder also worried aboascii117t danger from &ldqascii117o;mentally ascii117nstable people&rdqascii117o; who were inflamed by comments made by many American pascii117blic figascii117res, sascii117ch as Sarah Palin, calling him a terrorist who shoascii117ld be dealt with by any means necessary.

&ldqascii117o;We have bills in the ascii85S Senate to declare oascii117r organisation a transnational threat, to take ascii117s from the statascii117s of individascii117als, Aascii117stralians, Americans, and tascii117rn ascii117s into enemy combatants, where we can be dealt with in the same manner as senior figascii117res in the Taliban or Al Qaeda,&rdqascii117o; he said. &ldqascii117o;That is serioascii117s bascii117siness.&rdqascii117o;