Wikileaks' Julian Assange says the US fears losing face
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has said the United States is conducting an "aggressive" and "illegal" investigation into him and his site.Mr Assange is free on bail while awaiting extradition proceedings to Sweden over sex allegations.
The 39-year-old said: "A lot of face has been lost by some people and some people have careers to make by pursuing a famous case."
Mr Assange denies the Swedish allegations, made by two women.
He is living in the house of supporter Vaughan Smith, near Bungay in Suffolk.
Mr Assange said he suspected an espionage indictment was being prepared in the US and he condemned the secrecy which surrounded his case.
The Australian added that Wikileaks is a "robust" organisation which will continue to publish information. He said it had so far published only 2,000 out of the 250,000 cables.
He said: "During my time in solitary confinement in the basement of a Victorian prison, my colleagues were publishing material" He highlighted allegations published on Friday about India torturing people in Kashmir.
'Continuing vendetta'
Ata hearing at the High Court in London on Thursday, Mr Justice Ouseley ordered Mr Assange be bailed on payment of £240,000 in cash and sureties.
The judge imposed strict bail conditions including wearing an electronic tag, reporting to police every day and observing a curfew.
Mr Assange must also reside at the manor home on the Norfolk-Suffolk border owned by Mr Smith, a Wikileaks-supporting journalist and owner of the Frontline Club in London.
Mr Assange's solicitor Mark Stephens said after the court appearance that the bail appeal was part of a "continuing vendetta by the Swedes".Speaking to the BBC after his release, Mr Assange said there was a rumour from his lawyers in the US that there had been an indictment made against him there.
A spokeswoman from the US Department of Justice would only confirm there was "an ongoing investigation into the Wikileaks matter".
Mr Assange has received the backing of a number of high-profile supporters, including human rights campaigners Jemima Khan and Bianca Jagger and film director Ken Loach.
Sex allegations
Wikileaks has published hundreds of sensitive American diplomatic cables, details of which have appeared in the Guardian in the UK and several other newspapers around the world.
He has been criticised in the US, where former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin has said he should be hunted down like the al-Qaeda leadership.
Mr Assange argues the allegations against him are politically motivated and designed to take attention away from the material appearing on Wikileaks.
He is accused of having unprotected sex with a woman, identified only as Miss A, when she insisted he use a condom.
Mr Assange is also accused of having unprotected sex with another woman, Miss W, while she was asleep.
A full extradition hearing should normally take place within 21 days of the arrest. Mr Assange was arrested on 7 December, so this should be by 28 December.
However, in such a high-profile case, it is possible that a full extradition hearing will not take place for several months.
At that hearing Mr Assange will be able to challenge the warrant and raise any defences to the extradition request.
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