WIKILEAKS, the whistleblower website, faces dire economic times. The website, which was started by Julian Assange, says this is largely because Visa, MasterCard and PayPal have refused for more than 10 months to process donations made on its behalf.

THE opening bid for a steely portrait of Julian Assange - ''one of only four photos of Julian in the world'' that he signed on his 40th birthday in July - was set at more than $900.

On November 4, Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, arrived in Geneva. He held a press conference in which he hinted that he was considering requesting political asylum in Switzerland. Assange spent two days there as the guest of an Iranian non-governmental organization, which also sponsored the press conference.

The whistleblower website Wikileaks may close up shop over financial woes after a number of money-transfer systems closed down its accounts, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange told France s Europa 1 radio on Tuesday.

The December 2009 overview of terrorist financing, underpinning "a diplomatic engagement strategy" with other states to cut off funds, does note, "It has been an ongoing challenge to persuade Saudi officials to treat terrorist financing emanating from Saudi Arabia as a strategic priority." However, the very next sentence declares, "Due in part to intense focus by the USG over the last several years, Saudi Arabia has begun to make important progress on this front and has responded to terrorist financing concerns raised by the United States through proactively investigating and detaining financial facilitators of concern."

Saudi Arabia is a key source of funds for armed groups, including al-Qaeda, the Afghan Taliban and Pakistan's Lashkar-e-Taiba, according to a leaked US state department assessment. In a series of diplomatic cables spanning several years, published by the WikiLeaks whistleblowing website on Sunday, the state department details how such groups continue to seek financing in Saudi Arabia, often posing as pilgrims visiting the Muslim holy sites.

Top U.S. officials have grown frustrated over the resistance of allies in the Middle East to help shut the financial pipeline of terrorists, the New York Times reported on Sunday, citing secret diplomatic dispatches. Internal State Department cables, obtained by WikiLeaks and made available to news organizations, indicate that millions of dollars are flowing to extremist groups, including Al-Qaida and the Taliban, despite U.S. vows to cut off such funding.