Official: WikiLeaks damage control was intense

(AP) FORT MEADE, Md. - Two U.S. State Department officials have testified the agency took extraordinary steps to limit damage to U.S. foreign relations after an Army private allegedly sent a trove of classified diplomatic cables to the secret-sharing website WikiLeaks.

They testified Thursday in a military courtroom at Fort Meade during a pretrial hearing for 24-year-old Pfc. Bradley Manning. They were called by the defense, which hopes to show the disclosures did little harm.

State Department operations center director Rena Bitter says a working group labored around the clock for about three weeks in late 2010 to get ahead of the problem before the material was published.

She says another group worked to identify people who would be put at risk by the disclosures.

Manning is charged with 22 counts including the accusation that his actions aided the enemy. On Wednesday, a military judge said Wednesday she will double, from three to six, the number of pretrial hearings for Manning before his trial begins Sept. 21.

Col. Denise Lind made the announcement during a hearing at Fort Meade.

Manning's trial could be delayed if Lind grants a defense motion to stay certain proceedings. His lawyers want time to digest some potentially favorable evidence that prosecutors haven't turned over yet.

The defense is also seeking dismissal of 10 of the 22 charges.