Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg says he has terminal cancer

Former US government analyst announces on Twitter diagnosis with inoperable pancreatic cancer and says he has months to live

Former US government analyst Daniel Ellsberg – who leaked the Pentagon Papers which detailed secrets about American policy during the Vietnam war and became one of world politics’ most famous whistleblowers – has terminal cancer and expects to die within months, he has announced on Twitter.

Ellsberg, 91, tweeted late on Thursday that doctors diagnosed him with inoperable pancreatic cancer after he underwent a computed tomography scan as well as magnetic resonance imaging for an unrelated, “relatively minor” medical issue. He had been given three to six months to live, more or less, though the cancer had not caused him any early symptoms, as is usual with the illness.