US refuses talks with Assange, asks Wikileaks to restrain

The US State Department has refused to accept the olive branch offered by Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to negotiate on publication of the documents later on Sunday.

Instead, the US sought immediate handover of documents and resist from publicatiooon or distribution of the documents, failing which it said action will be taken against the whistleblower website.

In a letter, the State Department said publication of documents provided by any government officials or intermediaries illegally amounts to violation of US law.

If you are genuinely interested in seeking to stop the damage from your actions, you should: 1) ensure WikiLeaks ceases publishing any and all such materials; 2) ensure WikiLeaks returns any and all classified US Government material in its possession; and 3) remove and destroy all records of this material from WikiLeaks' databases, the letter said.

It has cautioned Assange that the publication may endanger the lives of countless innocent people including journalists and bloggers, soldiers and informers.

Besides, it would affect ongoing military operations, including those to stop terrorists, human-trafficking and illicit arms, violent criminal enterprises and other players who constantly pose threat to global security, the State Department said.