America’s top military official said last night that WikiLeaks could already have Afghan blood on its hands, as the FBI joined the investigation into the leaking of thousands of classified documents.

Robert Gates, the Defence Secretary, said that the FBI was being called in “so the investigation can go wherever it needs to go”. His comment raised the possibility that the US could seek the prosecution of civilians associated with the leak, including Julian Assange, the head of WikiLeaks.

Until yesterday, the investigation was being conducted under the auspices of the Pentagon and the Justice Department with a serving soldier, Private Bradley Manning, the chief suspect. Yesterday, however, the military’s ire was directed at Mr Assange and his organisation, which published around 75,000 classified reports, including the names and locations of Afghans who passed information to the Americans.

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“Mr Assange can say whatever he likes about the greater good he thinks he and his organisation are doing,” Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at a press conference in Washington. “But they might already have on their hands the blood of a young soldier or that of an Afghan family.”

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