WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange told a London news conference that his website would soon cease to exist unless it is able to end a financial "blockade" by U.S. firms.
SOUNDBITE: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, saying (English):
"Since the 7th of December 2010 an arbitrary and unlawful financial blockade imposed by the Bank of America, VISA, Mastercard, Paypal and Western Union has destroyed 95 percent of our revenue. "
Visa and MasterCard stopped processing donations for WikiLeaks in December 2010 after the US criticized the organization's release of tens of thousands of sensitive diplomatic cables.
SOUNDBITE: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, saying (English):
"In order to ensure our future survival, Wikileaks is now forced to temporarily suspend all publishing operations in order to direct all our resources into fighting the blockade and raising funds."
He said WikiLeaks would need 3.5 million U.S. dollars over the next 12 months to maintain its current levels of operations.
In July, WikiLeaks filed a complaint with the European Commission, saying Visa and MasterCard had breached antitrust provisions set out by the EU Treaty.
Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters