Rival site to WikiLeaks planned

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Former insiders at WikiLeaks in Europe say they plan to set up a rival site, Openleaks, to allow whistle-blowers to leak information to the public anonymously.

Unlike WikiLeaks, the new site will not host leaked documents itself but will act as a middleman between whistle-blowers and other organizations, including media outlets, RIA Novosti reported Friday.

"Our long-term goal is to build a strong, transparent platform to support whistle-blowers, both in terms of technology and politics, while at the same time encouraging others to start similar projects," an Openleaks organizer, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter.

"As a result of our intention not to publish any document directly and in our own name, we do not expect to experience the kind of political pressure which WikiLeaks is under at this time," the source told the newspaper.

WikiLeaks workers sabotaged the site earlier this year to convince its founder, Julian Assange, to step down, the newspaper said.

"We broke from WikiLeaks because a few ex-WikiLeaks members have been very unhappy with the way Assange was conducting things," Herbert Snorrason, a former WikiLeaks member and key player in the new site, was quoted as saying by Dagens Nyheter.

Assange was arrested in London Tuesday and his extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted on sex assault charges, is pending.