WikiLeaks says site 'killed' by US hosting firm

WASHINGTON: WikiLeaks was taken offline by its US-based domain name hosting firm, which said the attacks on the whistleblowing website were threatening its other clients.

WikiLeaks said in a Twitter message early Friday that its site had been "killed" and appealed for donations to allow it to continue operations.

"WikiLeaks.org domain killed by US everydns.net after claimed mass attacks," a message on the whistleblowing website's Twitter feed said.

"KEEP US STRONG," the message continued, inserting the link to a donations website.

A statement on the everydns.net website said the company provided domain name services (DNS) to WikiLeaks until 0300 GMT Friday.

"The services were terminated for violation of the provision which states that 'Member shall not interfere with another Member's use and enjoyment of the Service or another entity's use and enjoyment of similar services,'" said the firm that provides domain hosting.

"The interference at issues arises from the fact that wikileaks.org has become the target of multiple distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks.

"These attacks have, and future attacks would, threaten the stability of the EveryDNS.net infrastructure, which enables access to almost 500,000 other websites."

The move comes after WikiLeaks came under legal pressure around the world following its release of tens of thousands of formerly secret diplomatic notes.

Sweden said it would issue a fresh arrest warrant for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on sexual assault charges while US senators unveiled a bill aimed at punishing him and his whistleblowing website.

The website most recently published State Department cables which confirmed US concerns about President Hamid Karzai and the pervasiveness of corruption in Afghanistan, where some 100,000 US troops are stationed to fight the Taliban.