US defense analyst charged with giving secrets to pro-Israel group

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The FBI arrested a senior Defense Department analyst on charges of disclosing top secret information about potential attacks on US forces in Iraq to employees of a pro-Israel lobbying group, the Justice Department said.

Lawrence Franklin, who served on the Iran desk in the office of the defense secretary, turned himself in to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Washington after the charges were unsealed, the department said.

"A criminal complaint filed Tuesday and unsealed this morning charges Franklin with disclosing classified US national defense information to a person or persons not entitled to receive it," the department said. "The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison."

Franklin, 58, is alleged to have revealed classified information to two employees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a prominent pro-Israel lobby, at a restaurant in Arlington, Virginia on June 26, 2003.

"At the ...