The State Department has told hundreds of people named in the WikiLeaks diplomatic cables they could be in jeopardy, and has moved a handful of them to safety,
The New York Times reports. Human rights activists, business people and foreign officials are among those potentially open to reprisals by their governments after being identified in the leaked cables as having had discreet contacts with U.S. officials.
"We feel responsible for doing everything possible to protect these people," said Michael H. Posner, the assistant secretary of state supervising the effort. "We're taking it extremely seriously."
Administration officials said they are not aware of attacks or jailings resulting directly from the Wikileaks episode, but there is evidence that human rights activists abroad have become warier of talking to U.S. diplomats, the Times reports. Another worry is that almost 99 percent of the quarter-million cables obtained by Wikileaks have not yet become public, although the State Department knows which were leaked and has pre-emptively distributed many of them to embassies so diplomats can prepare for any fallout.
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