The Whistleblowers: Is WikiLeaks a Blessing or Curse for Democracy?

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Could Manning also have been the source of the Afghanistan material, as some observers are now speculating? "We have no idea if he was our source," Assange claims. "We structure our system so that we do not know the identity of our sources."

And why does WikiLeaks want to provide Manning with legal assistance, if WikiLeaks has indeed installed technical safeguards to make it impossible for it to know who submitted the material?

"We have to assist all our alleged sources," says Assange. "We should remember that regardless of whether Mr. Manning was the source for the 'Collateral Murder' video or whether he was directly or incidentally involved in any of the materials we have published, he is a young man who is detained in Kuwait as a result of an allegation that he is our source."

Staying with Supporters Around the World

After Manning's arrest, Assange also disappeared for a few weeks, and his attorneys advised him to avoid traveling to the United States. "One of our contacts informed me that there was consideration being given as to whether I could be charged as a co-conspirator to commit espionage," he says.

That's the reason he checked into a London hotel under a false name and then made a quick disappearance to stay with one of his supporters, as has so often been the case in the past few years. He has stayed in places all around the world, from Kenya to Iceland, where he and a team of volunteers prepared to publish the Baghdad video.

The precautions apply to everyone in his group. When Jacob Appelbaum, a well-known programmer in the Internet community, stood in for Assange at a hackers' convention in New York two weekends ago, he even hired a double to pose as him after he had given his talk. Appelbaum himself went directly to the airport, carrying only his passport, some cash and a copy of the US Bill of Rights, and took a flight overseas.

Increasingly Cautious

Daniel Schmitt, the German representative of WikiLeaks who is, next to Assange, the second most important voice of WikiLeaks, has also become more cautious.

During a meeting with SPIEGEL in a Berlin café, Schmitt looks around to see if anyone is listening to the conversation. He also says that he doesn't want photographs taken in his presence.

Germany is one of the most important sites for WikiLeaks, acting as one of the pillars of the relatively loose-knit organization. WikiLeaks receives many submissions in German, it gets technical assistance from people associated with the Chaos Computer Club, an influential German hacker organization, and German supporters are responsible for a large share of its donations.

Schmitt, a slim, bearded 32-year-old with horn-rimmed glasses, studied computer science and worked in IT security before devoting himself completely to WikiLeaks. He looks almost pedestrian next to the somewhat eccentric Assange, who has been known to walk around in London in his socks and suddenly do a cartwheel.

Just the Beginning

A foundation called "Friends of WikiLeaks" is expected to be launched in Germany this year. Schmitt is working on a brochure designed to encourage people to leak information, which he wants volunteers to hand out in front of the Reichstag, the seat of the German parliament, and the Defense Ministry. He has also considered placing ads in the subway.

The two men, Assange and Schmitt, say that WikiLeaks has a mountain of unpublished documents at its disposal -- and that this is just the beginning.

"If we want to use a mountain-climbing metaphor, we're only at the base camp," says Assange.

Then he snaps his little black laptop shut, packs it into his charcoal-gray nylon backpack, and walks out of the room.

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• Part 1: Is WikiLeaks a Blessing or Curse for Democracy?
• Part 2: A Database on a Flash Drive
• Part 3: An Attempt to Get Revenge?
• Part 4: 'We Have No Idea if Manning Was Our Source'