Nato condemns Wikileaks over tactical nukes

A woman reads US newspapers' front pages outside the Newseum in Washington. Sunday's release of documents obtained by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks exposed the inner workings of US diplomacy in recent years, including candid assessments of world leaders and disclosures on issues such as Iran's nuclear and missile programs. US authorities also were conducting a criminal investigation of the leak of classified documents, which WikiLeaks provided to five media groups that published reports on them. Photo: Reuters

A woman reads US newspapers' front pages outside the Newseum in Washington. Sunday's release of documents obtained by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks exposed the inner workings of US diplomacy in recent years, including candid assessments of world leaders and disclosures on issues such as Iran's nuclear and missile programs. US authorities also were conducting a criminal investigation of the leak of classified documents, which WikiLeaks provided to five media groups that published reports on them. Photo: Reuters

Published Nov 30, 2010

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Nato is condemning the release by Wikileaks of diplomatic cables detailing the deployment of US tactical nuclear weapons in Europe.

NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu on Tuesday described the leaks as “illegal and dangerous.”

Leaked US diplomatic cables show that most of about 200 US tactical nuclear bombs still left in Europe are based in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Turkey. The four nations have been long suspected of hosting the warheads, but Nato and the governments involved have always refused to confirm this.

The B-61 bombs, America's oldest nuclear weapons, date back to the 1950s. They were part of Washington's effort to demonstrate a commitment to Nato's defense during the Cold War by embedding such weapons near potential battlefields. -

Sapa-AP

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