FORT MEADE (United States), July 9: Bradley Manning, the US soldier accused of espionage, was “upset” about the plight of Iraqi civilians before he handed over a trove of secret files to WikiLeaks, a witness testified on Monday.

The army private was dismayed over an incident in which 15 Iraqi civilians had been jailed -- with US backing -- for handing out pamphlets criticising the government, said Sergeant David Sadtler, who helped oversee Manning’s work as an intelligence analyst in Baghdad. Manning “was concerned that this was happening”, said Sadtler, who was called as a witness for the defence. “He was upset at the situation.”

Manning’s lawyers focused on the episode as they began to present the case for the defence, painting a picture of a conscientious young man bothered by injustice and eager to shed light on US foreign policy. In an earlier statement to the court, Manning said the Iraqis who were arrested had no ties to militants and their pamphlets were only a “scholarly critique” of government corruption.

Sadtler said Manning was up on international events and that other troops in his unit would come to him “if they needed to know what was going on in the world”.

Manning, 25, has admitted to giving WikiLeaks more than 700,000 secret military intelligence files and diplomatic cables in the worst leak of classified information in American history.

He has pleaded guilty to lesser offenses that could carry a 20-year prison sentence.

But he is contesting 21 other charges, including the most serious count that he knew he was “aiding the enemy” by funnelling the files to the website. That charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.—AFP