Pentagon analyst charged with divulging secrets

By Deborah Charles

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Defense Department analyst was charged with disclosing to a foreign diplomat classified information about a Middle Eastern country's activities in Iraq, court documents showed on Monday.

Lawrence Franklin was arrested in May on charges of illegally disclosing classified defense information. An indictment returned by a federal grand jury and unsealed on Monday gave further information on the charges, including that he disclosed secret information to the diplomat.

Franklin, who worked on the Iran desk within the Office of the Secretary of Defense at the time the government says he disclosed the information, was also charged with disclosing top-secret information about potential attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq to two employees of a pro-Israel lobbying group.

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