If any materials in the next posting of documents by the WikiLeaks site were provided by government officials without proper authorization, "they were provided in violation of U.S. law and without regard for the grave consequences of this action," the U.S. State Department's legal adviser said.
In a letter to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange dated Saturday, State Department Legal Adviser Harold Hongju Koh said he was responding to a letter about plans to publish "what you claim to be classified U.S. government documents."
"Next release is 7x the size of the Iraq War Logs," the group stated via Twitter last Monday. "Intense pressure over it for months. Keep us strong."
The information blitz from WikiLeaks is expected to offer a glimpse into the worldwide communications of the State Department and its 297 embassies, consulates and missions through what commonly are referred to as "cables."
In October, WikiLeaks released nearly 400,000 U.S. military reports about operations in Iraq. In July, it released more than 70,000 reports from the war in Afghanistan.
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Koh wrote that the department had spoken with representatives from The New York Times, The Guardian and Der Spiegel newspapers about 250,000 documents the whistleblower organization provided to them for publication.
The United States and Israel were bracing themselves for the expected release of classified diplomatic cables by the WikiLeaks website late Sunday, which the Obama administration warned would endanger lives and interests.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Friday that the administration is continuing the process of warning governments around the world about what may be in the documents. He said the U.S. and its allies are bracing for what may be coming.
According to the Daily Mail, disclosures about the 92-year-old ex-South African President are among three million secret American diplomatic missives obtained by WikiLeaks
Other world leaders who have clashed with the US including Afghanistan's Hamid Karzai, Libya's Colonel Gaddafi and Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe also have been criticized in the no-holds-barred private cables to the White House from scores of US embassies, the paper said.
Around 800 messages are from the US embassy in London and some reportedly feature negative and hostile comments about Gordon Brown and the Labour Government.
The cables date from the past five years and include media reports, talks with politicians, government officials and journalists, as well as evaluations and various analyses by American diplomats regarding their host countries.
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