Scotland Yard announced Friday it would be opening an investigation into the leaking of British Foreign Office diplomatic cables earlier this month that culminated in the resignation of UK Ambassador to the United States Kim Darroch.
“Given the widely reported consequences of that leak I am satisfied that there has been damage caused to UK international relations, and there would be clear public interest in bringing the person or people responsible to justice,” Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said in a Friday statement.
“I would say to the person or people who did this, the impact of what you have done is obvious,” Basu continued. “However, you are now also responsible for diverting busy detectives from undertaking their core mission. You can stop this now. Turn yourself in at the earliest opportunity, explain yourself and face the consequences.”
Sky News reported Scotland Yard advised journalists not to publish any further such leaks. The same police department currently has WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange under lock and key, awaiting extradition to the US for helping to bring to light other such embarrassing diplomatic cables stolen by former US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in 2009. In the US, federal charges against Assange stem from the US' Espionage Act, with reference to the possession of classified government documents.
Darroch resigned on Wednesday amid public criticism by US…
