WikiLeaks whistleblower Manning cleared of 'aiding enemy' charges but still faces 136 yrs imprisonment

Bradley Manning, the US soldier who gave a number of classified files to WikiLeaks, has been cleared of aiding the enemy but still faces a potential life sentence in prison.

A US military court martial did not find Manning on a lock-up-for-life charge of aiding the enemy by leaking hundreds of thousands of classified documents.

Judge Colonel Denise Lind however convicted the 25-year-old soldier on five charges of espionage, five of theft, one of computer fraud and a series of other military wrong-doings.

Denise said her detailed reasoning would be released later and Manning's sentencing hearing, likely to be a protracted affair, is to begin on Wednesday morning.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, he will collectively face up to 136 years in jail. Manning leaked the documents while serving in Iraq.

The leaks included reports and other documents on the progress of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, which the prosecution argued had been access online by Osama Bin Laden and his al-Qaeda movement, the report added.