Renewed cyber attacks on WikiLeaks servers in Sweden closed down sections of the website on Monday as the information war over the State Department cables escalated dramatically. The attacks came as the Swiss post office announced it had frozen a WikiLeaks bank account containing $31,000, leaving the website with limited ability to raise money.

The attempts to halt the release of US government communiqués has prompted a response by campaigners who have rallied to keep the website online.

Supporters are using social-networking sites to publicise new outlets for the State Department cables when old ones get closed down. They have also created more than 570 mirror versions of the WikiLeaks website and have called for a boycott of Paypal, Amazon and EveryDNS, three US-based websites that recently severed ties with WikiLeaks.

Followers have also vowed to retaliate against attempts to muzzle WikiLeaks. Anonymous, a network of global cyber activists behind a series of recent high-profile hacks, has threatened companies with retaliatory attacks if they cut WikiLeaks off.

Following Paypal's decision to suspend its WikiLeaks account, Assange tried to open a bank account for donations with PostFinace in Switzerland, but the application was rejected yesterday because the WikiLeaks' founder did not have an address in the country. A spokesman for the bank said Assange would get his money back but the decision leaves WikiLeaks with a drastically curtailed donation network at a time when its leader is facing the prospect of lengthy court battles.

WikiLeaks claims to have lost $100,000 in the past week because of the Paypal and PostFinace account freezes.

In a further increase of the pressure on WikiLeaks, the Australian post office also announced it was closing a branch in Melbourne where Assange has a post box. It is believed that the website has used the box to acquire leaks from whistle-blowers who do not want to leave a digital trail.

The first task for supporters has been to keep WikiLeaks online amid a sustained campaign against the website. Service providers in France and the US have come under intense pressure to stop hosting Wikileaks, with a number of American companies agreeing to cease co-operation.

PRQ, a Swedish-based Internet service provider admitted yesterday that its servers were running slowly after a suspected cyber attack. WikiLeaks has been forced to shunt its sites around different servers.

The Independent

Islamabad, December 7
Pakistan army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani today escaped an attempt on his life when Taliban militants fired rockets at an area in South Waziristan tribal agency shortly after his visit to the troubled region. The militants fired at least four rockets in Laddha area as soon Kayani left the area, Geo News reported.

A media team covering the army chief’s visit had to hide in a bunker. No casualties were reported in the incident. Soon after the attack, security personnel retaliated with gunfire, the channel reported. There was no official word on the incident.

Balochistan Chief Minister Aslam Raisani today survived an assassination attempt by a suicide bomber, who killed one person and injured 10 others in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta.

The attacker initially lobbed a grenade at the Chief Minister's motorcade as it slowed down to cross a railway crossing at Saryab Road, a key thoroughfare in provincial capital Quetta, but it failed to explode. The bomber then detonated his suicide vest, the police said.

One person was killed while five policemen and as many civilians were injured. Two of the injured were in a serious condition, officials said.

Raisani, who belongs to the ruling Pakistan People's Party, was travelling from his home to the provincial assembly at the time of the attack.

Police officials said the bomber had carefully chosen the spot for the attack as cars usually slowed down to pass the railway crossing. Police officials said the Chief Minister was safe and later reached the provincial assembly. His Chief Security Officer, Muhammad Iftikhar, was among the injured, who were taken to a military hospital for treatment.

Two vehicles in the Chief Minister's motorcade were slightly damaged in the attack. The other policemen injured in the attack were personnel of the anti-terrorism squad who were guarding the Chief Minister. No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Authorities usually blame such attacks on anti- government nationalist groups fighting for more political rights and a greater share in Balochistan's resources. — PTI

Kabul, December 7
British Prime Minister David Cameron, on an unannounced visit to Afghanistan, said today he hoped that British troops could start withdrawing next year thanks to inroads against the Taliban.

Cameron’s second visit to Afghanistan as prime minister comes days after leaked American diplomatic cables showed heavy criticism by US and Afghan officials of the performance of British forces. Speaking to reporters at Camp Bastion, the main British base in Helmand province, Cameron said he believed the 2011 date was feasible. — PTI

A protester kicks a bin as a kiosk burns during a student protest to mark two years since the fatal police shooting of a teenage boy that sparked Greece's worst riots in decades, in Athens on Monday. — AP/PTI

Lizard venom ‘can treat high BP’
Washington: Scientists claim to have found evidence that newly discovered venoms from 'anguimorph' lizards contain toxins which can be used to treat high blood pressure levels in people. For its research, an international team, led by Dr Bryan Fry of University of Melbourne examined the unexplored group of venomous lizards called anguimorphs, a group that includes monitor, alligator and legless lizards. The research took four years to complete and involved collecting venom from lizards all over the world. — PTI