Apple pulls WikiLeaks app from App Store

Apple said Tuesday it had removed an unofficial WikiLeaks application for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad from its App Store because it violated its guidelines for software developers.

"Apps must comply with all local laws," Trudy Muller, an Apple spokeswoman, told AFP. "It may not put an individual or targeted group in harm's way.

"We removed the WikiLeaks app from the App Store because it violated our developer guidelines," Muller said, declining further comment.

The WikiLeaks application cost 1.99 dollars and provided a mobile version of the WikiLeaks content, which is available on the organization's website for free, and access to its Twitter feed.

It was approved by Apple on December 17 but removed from the App Store on Monday.

The application's developer, Igor Barinov, said in a link on his Twitter feed that he had planned to donate one dollar from each download to WikiLeaks.

Visa, Mastercard, PayPal and Amazon and other US companies have withdrawn their services from WikiLeaks since it began releasing thousands of secret US diplomatic cables.

(c) 2010 AFP