BREAKING NEWS

NATO condemns WikiLeaks release on tactical nukes

BRUSSELS — NATO on Tuesday condemned the release by Wikileaks of confidential and secret diplomatic cables detailing the deployment of US tactical nuclear weapons in Europe, describing the move as "illegal and dangerous."
Leaked US diplomatic cables show that most of the 200 US tactical nuclear bombs still left in Europe are based in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Turkey. The four nations have long been suspected of hosting the warheads, but NATO and the governments involved have always refused to formally confirm the suspicions.
Italy and Britain also are believed to house dozens of nuclear bombs, but they were not named in the Wikileaks report.
In a cable released by Wikileaks detailing a discussion last year between US Assistant Secretary of State Philip Gordon and German Chancellor Angela Merkel's foreign policy adviser Christoph Heusgen, the US diplomat commented on the battlefield weapons, noting that they were located in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Turkey.