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WikiLeaks Trial: Witness Describes State Department Cable Security

FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) -- A former State Department official says controlling access to diplomatic cables wasn't a priority in the design of an online database Pfc. Bradley Manning had access to.

Former Deputy Chief Information Officer Charlie Wisecarver testified Wednesday at Manning's court-martial at Fort Meade, near Baltimore. Manning has acknowledged sending sensitive diplomatic cables from the database to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks.

Under cross-examination, Wisecarver said users with the proper security clearance, such as Manning, could access the database through a broader classified computer network. Wisecarver says any restrictions on a service member's access to the cables would have been controlled by the military, not the State Department.

Manning denies charges that he exceeded his authorized access to the information while working as an intelligence analyst in Baghdad in 2009 and 2010.

(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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