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WikiLeaks data stored in Cold War-era bunker

December 09, 2010 17:35 IST

Just like in a 007 film, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has kept thousands of secret US diplomatic files at a former Swedish Cold War nuclear bunker that houses dozens of powerful computer servers used as storage by many companies.

"With his eccentric personal life and air of mystery, the flamboyant WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange seems to be doing his best to impersonate a James Bond villain," the Daily Mail commented.

The British paper also published pictures of the Pionen data centre, 100 feet below ground in a former Cold War nuclear bunker, where all the WikiLeaks files are being kept. The bunker was built in the 1970s to protect essential government functions from any nuclear strike.

The vast

cave, drilled into granite under the Vita Berg Park in Stockholm, houses dozens of computer servers used as storage by many companies, the report said.

Complete with a 'floating' conference room, suspended glass corridors, lunar landscape flooring and designer furniture, it also has German U-boat engines as back-up generators, the paper said.

39-year-old Assange, an Australian national, was remanded in custody on December 7 in Britain after being refused bail at a London court over claims of sex crimes in Sweden. Assange denies the charge and has said he will fight an extradition request from Sweden.

WikiLeaks has released thousands of classified US government documents, jeopardising Washington's relations with other nations.

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