Image caption Mr Assange said the internet was "the greatest spying machine the world has ever seen"

Diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks website played a role in the falls of the Egyptian and Tunisian regimes, the site's founder Julian Assange has told Cambridge students.

They showed the US would back Tunisia's military over its now ousted president, and made it hard for the US to support a key Egyptian regime figure, he said.

Mr Assange was speaking at the Cambridge Union Society.

He is appealing against a ruling that he should be extradited to Sweden.

Mr Assange, 39, denies three allegations of sexual assault and one of rape last August in Stockholm.

"The Tunisian cables showed clearly that if it came down to it, the US, if it came down to a fight betweenthe military on the one hand, and [President Zine al-Abidine] Ben Ali's political regime on the other, the US would probably support the military," he said, according to Reuters news agency.

"That is something that must have also caused neighbouring countries to Tunisia some thought. That is that if they militarily intervened, they may not be on the same side as the United States," Mr Assange said.

He also said that as a result of US cables released about Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, the US was not able to back him as a successor to former President Hosni Mubarak.

Mr Mubarak appointed Mr Suleiman as his vice-president as protests mounted against his regime, eventually forcing him from office on 11 February.

Long queues

However, Mr Assange also said the internet was was