US bank stops Wikileaks transactions

An American bank has announced it will no longer process transactions for the whistle blowing website WikiLeaks.

Bank of America has joined a growing group of financial services companies, including MasterCard, PayPal and Visa Europe, that are restricting payments to the group who announced that the next large document release will be bank information.

"This decision is based upon our reasonable belief that WikiLeaks may be engaged in activities that are, among other things, inconsistent with our internal policies for processing payments," the bank said in a statement.

WikiLeaks has said it will release documents early next year that will point to "unethical practices" at a major US bank.

Several companies have ended services to WikiLeaks after the website teamed up with major newspapers to publish thousands of secret US diplomatic cables that have caused tension between Washington and some of its allies.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was released on bail this week from a jail in Britain, where he is fighting extradition to Sweden over alleged sexual offenses. Speaking earlier, the Australian said his life was under threat and that he feared his staff would be targeted.