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Closed captioning of: Assange readies ‘poison pill’ in case of arrest

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>>> now to the latest on wikileaks . one week after the release of hundreds of thousands of state department cables, after companies in this country and france took down the wikileaks web site , sweden and switzerland became the main access points. as for the man behind wikileaks , he says he continues to receive death threats . peter alexander has the latest from london. peter, good evening.

>> lester, good evening to you. one month to the day since julian assange was last seen publicly. the illusive founder of wikileaks remains defiant, now threatening he could expose another tidal wave of sensitive information if anything happens to him.

>> reporter: it's a secret cache of unsensorored files. julian assange is threatening to release the archive of documents if his web site is shut down or he's arrested. assange told online readers that more than 100,000 people worldwide have already downloaded the heavily encrypted files. if something happens to us, the key parts will be released automatically, he wrote. the files are believed to include documents on bp, bank of america and guantanamo bay with one reportedly called insurance locked by a 256-digit cold that only assange knows.

>> it's a ticking time bomb with a remote fuse so this bomb can go off the second that they release the key. and the key will spread around the internet in a matter of seconds.

>> reporter: assange's lawyer defended the move on the bbc today, arguing wikileaks has been the target of attacks and censorship.

>> they need to protect them sfs and they believe this is a thermal nuclear device in the electronic age .

>> reporter: the latest cables as reported in the "new york times" revealed blunt often pessimism tis efforts in the u.s. efforts to disrupt terrorist finances in the middle east . donors in saudi arabia constitute the most significant source of funding worldwide. others describe the united arab emits as a gap. kuwait as a key transit point. one republican today called assange a high-tech terrorist.

>> he needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. if that becomes a problem, we need to change the law.

>> reporter: of the 39-year-old is wanted for keing by swedish authorities after allegations he raped and sexually assaulted two women in august, accusations he vehemently denies. even if he's arrested, it could be some time before assange would return to sweden.

>> anticipate a final result within six months.

>> as for the wikileaks threat, assange's lawyer tells nbc news that only 261 out of 250,000 files have been exposed and more continue to be released. u.s. government officials and future diplomats including college students, have been receiving warnings not to read those sensitive duocuments.

>> it's hard to believe no one was keeping track of him. is there any idea where he might be tonight?

>> well, there is indications tonight, including some from his own attorney, that he is still here in britain. they're not saying specifically where he is. they say because of those death threats they are not disclosing that information. scotland yard has said that it will contact assange's attorneys before they make the arrest, but at this point, nothing is is so far.

>> peter, thank you.

via msnbc.msn.com

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