Military judge refuses to dismiss all charges against Army private in WikiLeaks case

David Dishneau, The Associated Press

FORT MEADE, Md. - A military judge is refusing to dismiss all charges against an Army private accused in the biggest leak of government secrets in U.S. history.

Army Col. Denise Lind denied the defence motion Wednesday during a pretrial hearing at Fort Meade in the court-martial of Pfc. Bradley Manning.

The ruling means the hearing will continue. It's scheduled to run through Thursday.

The defence has filed a separate motion seeking dismissal of the most serious charge, aiding the enemy. That offence carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Lind tentatively scheduled the trial to run from Sept. 21 through Oct. 12.

Manning is accused of sending hundreds of thousands of sensitive documents to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks.