WikiLeaks leaker faces life sentence

WASHINGTON, USA: The US military has slapped the 23-year-old soldier, accused of having leaked thousands of secret documents to whistle-blower WikiLeaks, with 22 additional charges including the one that carries capital punishment.

But, according to the Washington Post, the prosecutors would not seek the execution of private Bradley E. Manning even if he were convicted of "aiding the enemy", one of the 22 new charges slapped against him, officials said.

They said the prosecution's decision of not recommending death penalty means that Manning, if convicted of all charges, would face a maximum punishment of life in prison, forfeiture of salary, a reduction in rank and a dishonourable discharge.

Manning was arrested last May in Iraq, where he was stationed on intelligence duties, and has been kept in solitary confinement in a military jail in the US, pending a mental health review to determine his fitness for a court-martial.

The startling disclosure last year of over 250,000 embassy cables and military documents related to US war in Iraq and Afghanistan caused major embarrassment to the US government.

The additional charges, filed Tuesday, also include wrongfully causing intelligence to be published on the internet, knowing that it will be accessed by the enemy, and violating army regulations on information security.

"The new charges more accurately reflect the broad scope of the crimes that Manning is accused of committing," Capt. John Haberland, a spokesman for the Military District of Washington, was quoted as saying.