‘Don't hunt my son,' pleads Assange's mother PARIS: Interpol called Wednesday for the arrest of WikiLeaks' shadowy founder as his site's dumping of secret US cables exposed deep tensions between the United States and Pakistan over nuclear arms safety. France-based Interpol said it had alerted all member states to arrest 39-year-old Australian, Julian Assange, who is wanted in Sweden for questioning over the alleged rape and molestation of two women. Assange's mother said she did not want her son, who has denied the charges, “hunted down”. Christine Assange told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that she was feeling “as any mother would be, very distressed” that authorities were looking for her son. “He's my son and I love him and obviously I don't want him hunted down and jailed,” she said from her home in Queensland. Mark Stephens, Assange's British lawyer, said the Interpol's pursuit of his client could be linked to the “bellicose” US reaction to the release of secret diplomatic cables. Stephens refused, however, to give the whereabouts of his client. “This is a persecution and not a prosecution,” he said in a statement. Meanwhile, Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani called in US Ambassador Cameron Munter for talks as WikiLeaks' steady release of 250,000 US cables sent shockwaves around the diplomatic community. Islamabad reacted angrily to suggestions by US diplomats that its nuclear weapons could fall into terrorist hands. International fears over the safety of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal “are misplaced and doubtless fall in the realm of condescension,” Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said. “There has not been a single incident involving our fissile material, which clearly reflects how strong our controls and mechanisms are.” The Guardian, which was given advance access to the memos released by the Internet whistleblower, said the documents showed greater US concern about Pakistan's nuclear arsenal than previously revealed publicly. The cables cited serious British concerns and also quoted the Russians as saying: “There are 120,000-130,000 people directly involved in Pakistan's nuclear and missile programs... There is no way to guarantee that all are 100 percent loyal and reliable.” Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was furious at suggestions by US dipomats that he had secret accounts in Swiss banks and was involved in fraud, adding that aides were seeking to prosecute the authors of the offending cable. “I do not have one penny in Swiss banks,” Erdogan said in an angry speech in Ankara. The hunt for Assange sparked by the Interpol request would likely focus on Sweden and Britain, where the elusive former computer hacker spends much of his time. Assange is said to rarely sleep in the same place twice. Ecuador's left-leaning government initially offered Assange residency, but President Rafael Correa backtracked Tuesday. In one of a series of defiant media interviews, Assange boasted that he was ready with a fresh “megaleak” that could take down a major bank, leading Bank of America shares to tumble more than three percent Tuesday on speculation. Obama names point man to prevent further leaks US President Barack Obama has named Russell Travers, an anti-terrorism expert to lead US efforts to mitigate the damage of the WikiLeaks breach and prevent future illegal data disclosures, the White House said. Travers, deputy director of information sharing at the National Counter-terrorism Center, “will lead a comprehensive effort to identify and develop the structural reforms needed in light of the Wikileaks breach,” the White House said in a statement. – Agence France
