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WikiLeaks Makes Cache Of Diplomatic Cables Public

Earlier today, WikiLeaks made public 5,523 diplomatic cables. While WikiLeaks claimed on its Twitter account that the cables were "new," they've actually been in the hands of news organizations like The New York Times and The Guardian since November.

This is, however, the first time WikiLeaks has made them public. WikiLeaks also asked the public to pore over the documents and tag them #wlfind on Twitter and while some things have already been reported, people are finding some interesting things.

We've been monitoring the feed, but it's expectedly too much to keep up with. Here are a few cables that have jumped out at us. They may not be particularly newsy, but they do provide unique insight into geopolitical relationships and sometimes they're just curious:

-- A Two Hour Meeting With Saddam Hussein: Hussein complains to a U.S. ambassador about the West's attempt at keeping oil prices low. The ambassador wrote that Saddam's "manner was cordial, reasonable and even warm throughout the ensuing two hours." The cable is dated July of 1990.

-- John McCain's Meeting With Gadhafi: This cable provides background information preceding the senator's visit to the country. What's interesting is that it shows that the United Sates was very much interested in normalizing relationships with the Gadhafi regime. The cable is dated August of 2009.

-- Israel Strikes UN, Red Cross: "On January 8, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) decided to suspend movements inside Gaza following several security incidents involving IDF strikes on UN and ICRC staff, vehicles, and facilities." This cable is dated January of 2009.

-- Turkey: Americans, Homosexuals And Bikinis Not Welcome Here:That's the title of a 2009 cable based on a face-to-face survey of 1,714 Turks.

We'll keep watching Twitter and add more noteworthy cables if we find them. Meanwhile, if you find interesting things post them in the comments.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.