US WikiLeaks suspect Bradley Manning's hearing adjourns until Saturday

[1]

The pre-trial hearing for US Army Private Bradley Manning, accused of handing over US classified documents to WikiLeaks, adjourned for the day and will resume on Saturday.

Lieutenant Colonel Paul Almanza, the presiding officer, called an end to Friday's proceedings after advising Manning again of the charges and his rights and rejecting a defense request that he recuse himself from the case.

Almanza said the hearing, which is to determine whether Manning should face a formal court-martial, will resume at 10:00 am (1500 GMT) on Saturday.

Manning is accused of downloading 260,000 US diplomatic cables, videos of US air strikes and US military reports from Afghanistan and Iraq between November 2009 and May 2010 and turning them over to WikiLeaks in what has been called one of the most serious intelligence breaches in US history.