4:18am UK, Wednesday December 01, 2010
New WikiLeaks cables claim the Government protected US interests in the Iraq War inquiry and also reveal fears over the security of Pakistan's nuclear weapons.
According to one document released by the whistleblowing website, British officials warned the inquiry would attract a "feeding frenzy" when it started.
A message was sent on September 22, 2009, two months after the inquiry started, from the American embassy.
The cable said Jon Day, the Ministry of Defence's Director General for security policy, "promised that the UK had 'put measures in place to protect your [the US] interests'" during the inquiry.
An inquiry spokesman said: "The Iraq Inquiry is independent of the British Government.
"The protocol agreed between the Iraq Inquiry and the Government allows for material to be withheld from publication if publication would damage international relations or breach the third party rule governing non-disclosure of intelligence material."
The files also show that America and Britain have huge doubts about the security of Pakistan's nuclear weapons.
US officials are quoted citing the danger of Pakistani fissile material finding its way into the hands of extremists.
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