WikiLeaks releases emails from inside Syrian regimeYou are not allowed to view links.
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WikiLeaks has begun publishing more than 2 million emails from Syrian political figures, which the whistleblowing website says will shed light on the regime's inner workings.
The emails date back to 2006 but also cover the period of the deadly crackdown on dissent by Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
Rights groups as many as 16,500 people have been killed in the 16-month uprising.
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LoginWikiLeaks says the files will reveal how the Assad government operates, but also show "how the West and Western companies say one thing and do another".
WikiLeaks says it will not comment on the material until stories derived from the files are published.
But Australian WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says the material is embarrassing to Syria, as well as to Syria's opponents.
"It helps us not merely to criticise one group or another, but to understand their interests, actions and thoughts," he said in a statement.
"It is only through understanding this conflict that we can hope to resolve it."
Altogether, the site says it will publish 2,434,899 emails from 680 domains, which it is "statistically confident" are accurate and authentic.
It says there are 678,752 different email addresses involved, and 1,082,447 different recipients.
WikiLeaks says the emails came from Syrian ministries including foreign affairs, finance and presidential affairs. There are around 400,000 emails in Arabic but also 68,000 emails in Russian.
The publication comes amid continued wrangling between world powers about how the bloody conflict in Syria should be tackled.
Meanwhile, Mr Assange remains currently holed up in Ecuador's embassy in London seeking political asylum.
He is seeking to avoid extradition to Sweden to face questioning on sex abuse allegations.
WikiLeaks enraged Washington by releasing a flood of classified information and diplomatic cables in 2010, and Mr Assange says America wants to try him for leaking the documents.
Mr Assange fears that once he is in Sweden, the US will seek his extradition.
Even if he is granted asylum in Ecuador, British police say they will arrest him for being in breach of his bail conditions as soon as he sets foot outside the embassy.
Mr Assange was on $315,000 bail, which included the condition he spend nights at home.
ABC/wires
