Assange threatens to sue The Guardian for malicious libel

London, Feb 7 (ANI): Julian Assange, founder of the whistleblower website 'Wikileaks' that had created controversy by its disclosure of thousands of US secret dilomatic cables, has threatened to sue The Guardian for libel over claims in a book published by the newspaper about its collaboration with him.

The Australian-born journalist is understood to be have been offended by a claim in the book that he had initially refused to remove the names of informants mentioned in Afghan war documents, allegedly saying they would "deserve it" if they were killed over the controversy, The Independent reports.

Last week, Assange had apparently posted a message on the WikiLeaks Twitter account, saying: "The Guardian book serialisation contains malicious libels. We will be taking action."

Guardian News and Media, the publisher of The Guardian, has said that it has not received any notification of action from Assange's side.

"The irony of an organisation dedicated to the free and open flow of information threatening to sue a newspaper will be lost on no one," a spokeswoman of Guardian News and Media, said.

Assange is currently fighting an extradition to Sweden over sexual assaults. (ANI)