WikiLeaks founder defends leaks

SYDNEY, July 29 (UPI) -- The founder of the whistle-blowing WikiLeaks Web site says he would "deeply regret" any harm that comes from the release of Afghanistan secrets.

Julian Assange, the site's editor in chief, told The Times in London the White House knew the names of confidential Afghan informants were in the 91,000 secret, sensitive documents released Sunday but did not respond to a request to help the Web site edit the files, The Australian reported.

He said WikiLeaks held back 15,000 documents it did not post, The Australian said.

Data posted on the site included names, villages, names of relatives and in some cases precise GPS locations of Afghans who cooperated with NATO forces battling the Taliban.

Assange said the importance of sharing the information outweighed the risk of exposing informants.

"No one has been harmed, but should anyone come to harm of course that would be a matter of deep regret -- our goal is justice to innocents, not to harm them," he told the Times.

A U.S. Defense Department spokesman said the posting had put Afghans cooperating with NATO forces in jeopardy.

"Real people die when sources and methods are revealed," said Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell. "Clearly people who are co-operating with us are now at risk."