TORONTO – The whistle-blower website WikiLeaks announced on Thursday that over the next two months they’ll release more than 2 million emails from Syrian politicians, ministers and organizations dating from August 2006 to March 2012. WikiLeaks is calling it the Syria Files.
According to a release from the website, “the range of information extends from the intimate correspondence of the most senior Baath party figures to records of financial transfers sent from Syrian ministries to other nations.”
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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said in the release that the materials are not only embarrassing to Syria, but as well to Syria’s opponents. Assange is currently seeking asylum in Ecuador after running out of legal options in Britain where he faces extradition to Sweden.
“It helps us not merely to criticise one group or another, but to understand their interests, actions and thoughts. It is only through understanding this conflict that we can hope to resolve it.”
Syria is embroiled in a violent civil war. More than 14,000 people have been killed since the Syrian uprising began in March 2011, according to activists. As the conflict grinds on, the violence has become widespread and chaotic. Besides the government crackdown on dissent, rebel fighters are launching increasingly deadly attacks on regime targets, and several massive suicide attacks this year suggest al-Qaida or other extremists may be joining the fray.
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