A confidential diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks shows Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu supporting the notion of land swaps with the Palestinians.
The cable, dated February 26th, 2009, two weeks after Mr Netanyahu was elected, is the first indication of the Israeli leader’s position on that concept.
Mr Netanyahu has been very careful to keep his position on borders close to his chest.
The cable says: “Netanyahu expressed support for the concept of land swaps, and emphasised that he did not want to govern the West Bank and Gaza but rather to stop attacks from being launched from there.”
Mr Netanyahu’s spokesman, Mark Regev, refused to comment.
Another secret diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks says Afghan president Hamid Karzai freed dangerous detainees and pardoned suspected drug dealers because they had connections to powerful figures.
The cable, which supports the multiple allegations of corruption within the Karzai government, said that despite repeated rebukes from US officials in Kabul, the president and his attorney general authorised the release of detainees.
“Both authorise the release of detainees pre-trial and allow dangerous individuals to go free or re-enter the battlefield without ever facing an Afghan court,” said the cable written on August 6th, 2009 by Frank Ricciardone, deputy US ambassador to Afghanistan.
Mr Karzai’s spokesman said the release of documents would not strain US-Afghan relations.
The cable said that in April 2009, Mr Karzai pardoned five Afghan policemen caught with 124kg of heroin because they were related to two heroic figures of the Afghan civil war fought in the mid-1990s.
The policemen were tried, convicted and each was sentenced to 16 to 18 years in prison, but Mr Karzai “pardoned all five of them on the grounds that they were distantly related to two individuals who had been martyred during the civil war”, the cable said.
According to the cable, Mr Karzai also tampered with the narcotics case of Haji Amanullah, the son of a wealthy businessman and one of the president’s supporters. “Without any constitutional authority, Mr Karzai ordered the police to conduct a second investigation which resulted in the conclusion that the defendant had been framed,” Mr Ricciardone wrote.
Elsewhere, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has filed another appeal against a court order to detain him in a rape investigation, Swedish officials said. Supreme Court spokeswoman Tove Levelind said the appeal was received by the court today.
Earlier this month, an appeals court rejected Mr Assange’s first appeal, upholding a district court decision to detain him for questioning.
Mr Assange, whose whereabouts are unknown, is wanted concerning allegations against him that include rape and sexual molestation. He has denied the allegations.
WikiLeaks made another disclosure of classified documents over the weekend, including diplomatic cables and sensitive US State Department documents.
PA