US condemns Wikileaks diplomatic cables release

Christopher Hill said US diplomats would be more careful about their cables

The US has strongly criticised the release by the website Wikileaks of thousands of extracts from US diplomatic messages.

Among the revelations is a report Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah urged the US to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities.

The founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, said the US authorities were afraid of being held to account.

But the White House said the release was "reckless" and put the lives of diplomats and others at risk.

One Republican congressman called for Wikileaks to be designated a terrorist organisation.

Peter King, a member of the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee, said the latest release "manifests Mr Assange's purposeful intent to damage not only our national interests in fighting the war on terror, but also undermines the very safety of coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan".

Meanwhile, Pakistan's foreign ministry condemned what it called "the irresponsible disclosure of sensitive official documents".

The US Department of Defence says it is making its computer systems more secure to prevent future leaks.