US charges soldier over leaked video of killings in Iraq

Bradley Manning, 22, faces two criminal counts including allegations he disclosed classified national defence information, exceeded his authorised access to US computers and transferred classified data onto his personal computer, the military said in a statement on Tuesday. The charges were brought under the military code of justice and could result in a trial by court martial.

Manning, a US Army specialist, was deployed to Baghdad and was held in pre-trial confinement in Kuwait, US officials said when they announced a month ago that he had been detained.

The gunsight video, which shows an attack by an Apache helicopter on a group of men in a square in Baghdad, was made public in April by WikiLeaks, an Internet group that promotes the leaking of information to fight government and corporate corruption.

Photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen, 22, and his assistant and driver, Saeed Chmagh, 40, were among those killed in the attack.

The leaked video showed an aerial view of men moving through a square in Baghdad. The helicopter opened fire, killing several people and wounding others. A military spokesman said the helicopter crew mistook a camera for a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. The video also showed the helicopter opening fire on a van carrying unarmed civilians who tried to help those wounded in the first burst of fire.

WikiLeaks said at the time it had obtained the video from military whistleblowers and had been able to view and investigate it after breaking an encryption code. ■