WikiLeaks India: Mayawati needs to speak to US if she's upset with cables, says Julian Assange

LONDON: Hitting back at Mayawati who wants him to be put in a "mental asylum", WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange today said the UP Chief Minister needs to take up her case with the US if she has a problem with the contents of American diplomatic cables that painted her as an "egomaniac."

His statement came hours after Mayawati slammed him over the US diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks last week that described how the BSP supremo once allegedly dispatched her empty private jet to fetch her favourite sandals from Mumbai.

The cables also claimed that Mayawati had food tasters to sample her meals and a "security entourage to rival a head of state."

In a press statement, Assange said that "Mayawati has betrayed the rational thought. The question is, has she also betrayed the Dalit?"

"There is no question that the documents (leaked US cables) are official papers... from the US embassy. These papers have been proven the world over, including by the aggressive persecution of our people by Washington," he said.