WikiLeaks source Manning kept naked for 7 hours

The conditions of Bradley Mannings confinement have drawn criticism in recent months from supporters.

A lawyer for Pfc Bradley Manning,the Army intelligence analyst accused of leaking secret government files to WikiLeaks,has complained that his client was stripped and left naked outside his cell for seven hours Wednesday.

The conditions of Private Mannings confinement at the Marine brig in Quantico,Vancouver,have drawn criticism in recent months from supporters and his lawyer,David E Coombs. The soldiers clothing was returned to him Thursday morning,after he was required to stand naked outside his cell during an inspection,Coombs said in a posting on his website.

This type of degrading treatment is inexcusable and without justification, Coombs wrote. It is an embarrassment to our military justice system and should not be tolerated. Pfc. Manning has been told that the same thing will happen to him again tonight. No other detainee at the brig is forced to endure this type of isolation and humiliation.

First Lt Brian Villiard,a Marine spokesman,said a brig duty supervisor had ordered Mannings clothing taken from him. He said the step was not punitive and it was in accordance with rules,but he said that he was not allowed to say more. Manning is being held as a maximum security detainee under a special set of restrictions intended to prevent self-injury.CHARLIE SAVAGE