The US government is believed to be preparing to put a Navy Seal on the witness stand to testify that secret files published by WikiLeaks were discovered in Osama bin Laden's compound.![]()
Osama bin Laden is believed to have looked at WikiLeaks files while in hiding in Pakistan.
![]()
Bradley Manning's trial is scheduled to begin in June
Prosecutors trying Bradley Manning, the 25-year-old soldier accused of engineering the largest intelligence leak in US history, are seeking to prove that al-Qaeda directly benefitted from access to the classified files.
They claim that when bin Laden requested information about US defence policy a subordinate emailed him with data taken from the trove of documents WikiLeaks published on the internet.
Today, prosecutors argued they should be allowed to call a military "operator" - a common term for a US commando - as a witness, saying he could offer testimony about evidence collected from the 2011 raid in Pakistan.
The potential witness was named only as "John Doe" and referred to him as "the operator who actually collected the evidence in Abbottabad and handed it to an FBI agent in Afghanistan".
Major Ashden Fein, the lead prosecutor, said Doe would describe "how he went into a room, how he picked up the three pieces of information and what he did with them".
Military authorities have consistently refused to release documents associated with Private First Class Manning's court martial, making it impossible to confirm Doe's exact role or his relation to the case.
Prosecutors also requested that Doe be allowed to give his testimony in an "offsite location", away from the military courtroom where the case is being heard.
The secrecy surrounding his testimony makes it seem likely that he was among the members of Seal Team 6 who killed the al-Qaeda leader two years ago.
The government is also seeking to call eight other "chain of custody witnesses" who would describe how the files were transported from bin Laden's compound back to the US for analysis.
Among the requested witnesses is a translator who examined "letters to and from bin Laden".
Col Denise Lind, the military judge presiding over the case, has yet to rule on whether any evidence associated with bin Laden should be allowed in the trial, which is scheduled to begin in June.
Pfc Manning's lawyers argue that al-Qaeda's use of the information from WikiLeaks is irrelevant. The only issue at hand is whether the young soldier knew that the leaked information could be used by America's enemies, they claim.
"[bin Laden's possession of leaked files] has no bearing on the knowledge Pfc Manning had when he gave the information to WikiLeaks," said David Coombs, for the defence.
Mr Coombs also said that the introduction nine witnesses would cause "undue delay" in the eventual trial, which has already been repeatedly delayed by the ongoing legal wranglings.
The court also heard that Pfc Manning wanted to read a statement where he appears to justify the leak of classified documents as an act of whistleblowing that was in the public interest.
He hoped the disclosure "could spark a domestic debate on the role of our military in our foreign policy in general", according to a excerpt of the document read out by a prosecutor.
The document, which is at least 24 pages long, is the first time that Pfc Manning has addressed his motive for allegedly passing the files on to WikiLeaks.
The US government is attempting to block him from reading the statement, saying that large portions of it are irrelevant to the proceedings.
Col Lind has yet to decide whether to allow the soldier to read it.
The request was made on the first day of a three-day hearing at Fort Meade, a sprawling US military base outside of Washington.
Prosecutors trying Bradley Manning, the 25-year-old soldier accused of engineering the largest intelligence leak in US history, are seeking to prove that al-Qaeda directly benefitted from access to the classified files.
They claim that when bin Laden requested information about US defence policy a subordinate emailed him with data taken from the trove of documents WikiLeaks published on the internet.
Today, prosecutors argued they should be allowed to call a military "operator" - a common term for a US commando - as a witness, saying he could offer testimony about evidence collected from the 2011 raid in Pakistan.
The potential witness was named only as "John Doe" and referred to him as "the operator who actually collected the evidence in Abbottabad and handed it to an FBI agent in Afghanistan".
Major Ashden Fein, the lead prosecutor, said Doe would describe "how he went into a room, how he picked up the three pieces of information and what he did with them".
Military authorities have consistently refused to release documents associated with Private First Class Manning's court martial, making it impossible to confirm Doe's exact role or his relation to the case.
Prosecutors also requested that Doe be allowed to give his testimony in an "offsite location", away from the military courtroom where the case is being heard.
The secrecy surrounding his testimony makes it seem likely that he was among the members of Seal Team 6 who killed the al-Qaeda leader two years ago.
The government is also seeking to call eight other "chain of custody witnesses" who would describe how the files were transported from bin Laden's compound back to the US for analysis.
Among the requested witnesses is a translator who examined "letters to and from bin Laden".
Col Denise Lind, the military judge presiding over the case, has yet to rule on whether any evidence associated with bin Laden should be allowed in the trial, which is scheduled to begin in June.
Pfc Manning's lawyers argue that al-Qaeda's use of the information from WikiLeaks is irrelevant. The only issue at hand is whether the young soldier knew that the leaked information could be used by America's enemies, they claim.
"[bin Laden's possession of leaked files] has no bearing on the knowledge Pfc Manning had when he gave the information to WikiLeaks," said David Coombs, for the defence.
Mr Coombs also said that the introduction nine witnesses would cause "undue delay" in the eventual trial, which has already been repeatedly delayed by the ongoing legal wranglings.
The court also heard that Pfc Manning wanted to read a statement where he appears to justify the leak of classified documents as an act of whistleblowing that was in the public interest.
He hoped the disclosure "could spark a domestic debate on the role of our military in our foreign policy in general", according to a excerpt of the document read out by a prosecutor.
The document, which is at least 24 pages long, is the first time that Pfc Manning has addressed his motive for allegedly passing the files on to WikiLeaks.
The US government is attempting to block him from reading the statement, saying that large portions of it are irrelevant to the proceedings.
Col Lind has yet to decide whether to allow the soldier to read it.
The request was made on the first day of a three-day hearing at Fort Meade, a sprawling US military base outside of Washington.