Bradley Manning, an American soldier, faces life in prison as his trial gets under way in Fort Meade, in the US state of Maryland, three years he was charged with providing highly sensitive material to anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks.
The 25-year-old army private has admitted turning over hundreds of thousands of documents to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks, pleading guilty earlier this year to charges that could bring 20 years behind bars.
Even then, the US military pressed ahead on Monday in a military courtroom outside Washington DC with a court-martial on more serious charges, including aiding the enemy, which carries a potential life sentence.
Al Jazeera's Tom Acherman reports from Maryland.
