The US government on Sunday condemned the WikiLeaks website for releasing some 200 diplomatic cables sent from American embassies around the world to Washington, terming the action as "reckless and dangerous".

In a statement, the White House said President Barack Obama supports responsible efforts to make government information more accessible. "But this reckless and dangerous action runs counter to that goal," it added.

The White House warned that the release of stolen and classified documents not only puts the lives of diplomats and intelligence professionals at risk, but also jeopardises the promotion of human rights around the world.

It added that the diplomatic documents, known as cables, contained candid and often incomplete information that didn't express policy and didn't influence decisions.

However, the founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, has defied US demands that it not publish the hundreds of thousands of documents and instead retorted that the US authorities were afraid of being held to account.

The entire bundle of cables, containing candid assessments of foreign leaders and governments, has been made available to five publications, including the New York Times and the UK's Guardian newspaper.