3 accused of disclosing secrets on Mideast

0 Comments | USA TODAY, August, 2005 | by Toni Locy

WASHINGTON {ndash}{ndash} Two former officials of a pro-Israel lobbying group and a former Pentagon analyst were charged Thursday with disclosing U.S. government secrets about the Middle East.

In a five-count indictment, a federal grand jury in Alexandria, Va., accused Steven Rosen, 63, and Keith Weissman, 53, of using their positions at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) to develop a relationship with the Defense Department analyst to obtain classified information that they shared with unnamed foreign officials and reporters. The committee is the most powerful pro-Israel lobby in Washington.

The grand jury said the secrets dated to 1999 and dealt with terrorist activity in Central Asia, a 1996 attack in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 U.S....