WikiLeaks faces financial ruin

WikiLeaks will have to stop publishing secret cables and devote itself to fundraising if it is unable to end a financial “blockade” by US firms by the end of the year, founder Julian Assange has said.

After releasing tens of thousands of confidential US government cables, WikiLeaks would need $3.5 million (£2.19m) in the next year to continue operating.

Visa and MasterCard stopped processing donations for WikiLeaks in December 2010 after the US criticised the organisation’s release of sensitive diplomatic cables.