Communications Technology

Foreign minister Kevin Rudd today blamed the United States, not the WikiLeaks founder, for the unauthorised release of about 250,000 secret US diplomatic cables - some of which reflected badly on him.

He said those who originally leaked the documents were legally liable.

And, he added, the leaks raised questions over the “adequacy” of US security over the cables.

“Mr Assange is not himself responsible for the unauthorised release of 250,000 documents from the US diplomatic communications network,” Mr Rudd told Reuters in an interview.

“The Americans are responsible for that,” he said.

Yesterday, Mr Rudd said in response to a journalist’s question about what governments should do in response to the leaked diplomatic cables: ”Rule No.1 for our friends in the United States is - how do you tighten things up a bit?

”I think that’s a fair old question. Maybe 2 million or so people having access to this stuff is a bit of a problem,” he said, alluding to the fact that many US government officials had access to the classified material.

Mr Rudd earlier shrugged off claims he is an abrasive, impulsive “control freak”, and has offered support to the founder of the website that leaked the comments by diplomats.

Mr Rudd said today the criticism of him in US diplomatic cables being a “control freak” was like “water off a duck’s back”.

“I don’t, frankly, give a damn about this sort of thing. You just get on with it,” he told the Seven Network.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard today defended the man she toppled to take leadership of the country, saying Mr Rudd was doing a “fantastic job” in foreign affairs.

“Kevin Rudd is a man who throughout his adult life has devoted himself to expertise in foreign policy,” she told reporters in Melbourne.

“He’s bringing that expertise to bear for the Australian nation and doing an absolutely first-class job.”

Detailed messages, sent by the US embassy in Canberra over several years and obtained by WikiLeaks, show US officials viewed Mr Rudd as a “control freak” while he was prime minister.

US officials criticised his foreign relations performance for being focused on media-driven photo opportunities and for making snap announcements without consulting other countries.

He was seen as making various “missteps” and “significant blunders” for micro-managing and once in 2008 demanded a meeting with US president George Bush only to cancel two days later.

Ms Gillard expressed her full confidence in Mr Rudd and said it would be foolish to form a view of someone from published criticisms. Instead, she said she was focused on outcomes.

In June, Ms Gillard made similar comments in the days before she ousted Mr Rudd as prime minister.

“The thing that matters is not what’s in the pages of the daily newspapers but a focus on making a difference,” she said less than two weeks before her successful leadership bid

The cables have revealed embarrassing details in foreign affairs, but several government members said on Wednesday they would not damage US-Australia relations, which remained strong.

Ms Gillard, however, has continued to tone down her language in describing the WikiLeaks website and its editor-in-chief Julian Assange.

She initially called the website “illegal” but later said the “foundation stone” of the issue was the illegal leaking of confidential documents.

Today, she said the publication of the embassy cables was “grossly irresponsible”.

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US Intelligence agencies have blacklisted 23 Australians in Yemen suspected of terrorist links, as Barack Obama’s counterterrorism chief warns that the world must confront al-Qaeda fighters in Yemen.

A diplomatic cable from the US embassy in Sanaa, leaked to WikiLeaks, lists the names and birth dates of 23 Australians thought to have connections to the group ”al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula”.

Some names have been added to a US list banning them from commercial flights. The rest are to be closely monitored by US spy agencies.

The cable, sent last January, has not been made public but the contents, excluding the personal details - have been reported by The New York Times, one of several news outlets granted access to the cables.

Another cable blames Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest source of funds for Islamist extremists.

The top White House counterterrorism adviser Daniel Benjamin yesterday said Yemen was a big recruiting ground for al-Qaeda, especially for people holding Western passports.

”There are individuals from many countries around the world who have made their way to Yemen,” he said.

”Many of them did so fairly innocently - to acquire for example Arabic language training or other schooling - who have been radicalised.”

Mr Benjamin said concern about Yemen had increased in March last year and was confirmed by recent plots emanating from the country, including one to destroy a passenger jet over Detroit on Christmas Day and bombs posted to the US.

He said Yemen had significant problems, including an exploding population growth, the exhaustion of natural resources and a depleted water table. Local al-Qaeda affiliates were the most aggressive beyond the terrorist leaders in the border region of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Australia has sharpened its focus on Yemen and recently declared al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula a proscribed organisation. Many of the Australians listed in the cable were women, The New York Times said, with al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen seeking ”to identify a female for a future attack”.

The Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, declined to answer questions about the Australians. A spokesman said the government did not comment on secret documents.

There have also been reports that Australian agencies have been monitoring electronic communications between Australia and Yemen.

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BNEI BEREK, Israel: From a drab office in this ultra-Orthodox Jewish stronghold, three devout young women hunch over computers and surf the internet - looking for pornography, celebrity gossip and a list of other items banned by their rabbis.

It is odd work for this trio, dressed modestly and wearing wigs in keeping with their beliefs. But it is their job at Israel’s first ultra-Orthodox internet provider, Nativ, as it tries to launch a product that could transform the traditionally sheltered community: kosher internet.

Because racy images of women are the most common offensive content found, the company decided it would be less objectionable to hire women to scour the internet.

Lea Bernat, 22, a former kindergarten teacher, clicks through hundreds of web pages a day, using specialised software to open links and disable problematic content.

”If it’s clean, we release it,” she said. ”If it’s really unclean, we tell the customer that the site isn’t approved.”

But is it kosher?

That is the question facing many ultra-Orthodox Jews as they move online and are greeted by a fast-growing industry seeking to cater to their special needs.

There’s Koogle, a Google-inspired searchable directory of kosher businesses offering, say, bargains on ”modest” wedding dresses. Many rabbis frown on YouTube, so Yideotube offers a ”daily online source of carefully screened videos”, ranging from spoofs of anti-war activists to tips for buying a ceremonial kittel robe.

Worried about violating prohibitions against working on the Sabbath? Software vendor SaturdayGuard sells technology that enables websites to block access for users, depending upon their time zone, between Friday and Saturday night.

There’s even an online support group, GuardYourEyes.org, specialising in helping Orthodox Jews break ”lust addictions” arising from internet access. The group offers tips for curtailing inappropriate surfing, including using software that automatically sends lists of visited websites to your spouse or rabbi.

Ultra-Orthodox rabbis initially labelled the internet as the biggest threat yet to Judaism, likening it to eating pork and calling it ”1000 times worse” than TV. As the technology spread, rabbis softened their stance and by 2005 allowed limited use for work purposes.

Now, as the internet permeates most aspects of life, from banking to registering children at school, more Haredi families have no choice but to go online. About one-third admit to having internet access at home, though the actual figure is believed to be about 50 per cent.

”The overwhelming majority understand that if you can’t fight it, join it,” said Avi Greenzeig, believed to be Israel’s first ”kashrut monitor” - similar to those who inspect kosher restaurants.

He was hired by rabbis to edit and censor one of Israel’s most popular Haredi websites, Behadrei Haredim.

”People can live without television, but the internet is different,” he said. ”It’s impossible to tell people to go back to the caves. Technology is moving forward and people must move with it. But there are limits.”

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