WikiLeaks Backers Say's Zimbabwe Websites Shut Down

Bookmark and Share
Cyber activists say they have brought down Zimbabwean government websites after the president's wife sued a newspaper for a WikiLeaks cable linking her with illicit diamond trading.

President Robert Mugabe's wife Grace is suing a private newspaper for $15 million for publishing details from U.S. cables on WikiLeaks saying she gained "tremendous profits" from illicit diamonds.

The activists, acting under the name Anonymous, said in a statement on their website: "We are targeting Mugabe and his regime in the who have outlawed the free press and threaten to sue anyone publishing WikiLeaks."

The Zimbabwean government web portal www.gta.gov.zw was unreachable on Thursday, while the website, www.zimtreasury.gov.zw, displayed a message saying it was under maintenance.

Anonymous previously shut down the sites of Visa and after they restricted payments to WikiLeaks.

The WikiLeaks site has enraged the United States and affected its relations with some countries by publishing hundreds of leaked confidential cables from U.S. diplomats. It says it has a total of a quarter of a million cables.