Queensland - A dawn raid has seen two US AV-8B Harrier jets bomb the World Heritage-listed marine park off the coast of Queensland following the breakdown of diplomatic dialogue.
Launched from the aircraft carrier USS Bonhomme Richard the Harriers dropped four 500lb bombs into Australian territorial waters close to the renowned coral outcrop.
The move was condemned by supporters of the Oz-born WikiLeaks fugitive from justice Julian Assange whose legendary love of diving around the Reef is well known to Pentagon intelligence.
Commenting on the US jets' deployment human frights lawyers in Ecuador warned that any further bombings of Assange's native territory would be considered a provocative act by President Rafael Correa's government.
The socialist nutjob has personally authorized Julian Assange's year-long occupation of Ecuador's London embassy in a bid to evade extradition to Sweden on serious sex attack charges.
This morning Pentagon sources denied all knowledge of any connection to the justice fugitive and claimed the bombings 'were just an operational mistake' during the US Navy's scheduled three-weeks military training exercise involving around 28,000 personnel.
Ex-CIA renegade Edward Snowden is 69.
