Accused WikiLeaks leaker at pre-trial hearing
The US military is beginning its argument for why Army Private Bradley Manning should be court-martialled.
Manning is the soldier accused of endangering national security by stealing and leaking an enormous trove of government secrets in 2009.
Manning, 23, is making his first public appearance today at the opening of his pre-trial hearing at Fort Meade, Maryland. He has been held in detention.
Manning is suspected of giving the sensitive documents to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks which began publishing the materials.
The pre-trial hearing is expected to last through the weekend and possibly beyond. The officer who presides at the hearing will eventually recommend to a two-star Army general whether the case should go to trial.
