BRUSSELS, Oct 12: A leading international journalists' group on Tuesday accused US authorities of threatening freedom of expression after an American journalist faced jail for refusing to reveal her sources.

New York Times reporter Judith Miller was held in contempt by a Washington judge last Thursday over her refusal to reveal the source of a story about a White house leak revealing the identity of undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame.

The US authorities were "endangering the country's cardinal democratic principle of free expression by attempting to force reporters to disclose confidential sources of information," the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said in a statement from its Brussels headquarters.

"The First Amendment (of the US constitution) is a beacon for free expression," said IFJ General Secretary Aidan White. "But that principle is threatened when journalists are bullied by judges and face jail for talking to government employees about serious public issues."

The IFJ said it was backing Judith Miller, who refused to reveal the source of a story about a leak from the White House for which she gathered material. The story was never published.

The leak investigation began after Plame's identity was leaked to journalists last year. The IFJ recalled that articles had appeared quoting two "administration officials" as sources.

"The leak was regarded by some as a politically motivated attack on Plame's husband (Joseph Wilson), a former US ambassador," the IFJ statement said. "Her name was only revealed after her husband publicly criticized the Bush administration's claim that Iraq had tried to buy uranium from Niger to make nuclear weapons." - AFP