Row between Wikileaks and Guardian over security breach

The whistle-blowing group said unredacted versions of the 251,000 diplomatic cables had been leaked on the internet.

Wikileaks blamed the disclosure on the Guardian newspaper and said it had started legal action against the paper.

The newspaper has strongly denied the claims, blaming a "security breach".

In a short statement on Twitter, Wikileaks said: "A Guardian journalist has, in a previously undetected act of gross negligence or malice... disclosed top secret decryption passwords to the entire, unredacted, Wikileaks Cablegate archive.

"We have already spoken to the State Department and commenced pre-litigation action."

Stories based on classified US diplomatic cables - allegedly leaked by US soldier Bradley Manning - have featured in the mainstream media since December 2010 after Wikileaks partnered with the papers including The Guardian and New York Times to release the information.

An unredacted version of the cables is reported to be circulating on the internet and Wikileaks says that a book, published by two Guardian journalists in February, reveals the password to open the file; Kazinform cites BBC.

To learn more go to www.bbc.co.uk