Gates said he has asked the Federal Bureau of Investigation for assistance, promising to aggressively investigate the leak's source. The investigation is being handled by the Army's criminal investigation branch.
Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell earlier said Bradley Manning, a 22-year-old private charged in an earlier leak to WikiLeaks, was named a "person of interest" in the new investigation.
Gates also said the military will be tightening procedures that safeguard classified information. The Pentagon has started clamping down on access in the field to sensitive information to reduce the risk of another leak, he said.
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Pentagon fears more war-log leaks
BEIJING, July 28 (Xinhuanet) --The Pentagon said Tuesday it was launching a manhunt to find whoever leaked tens of thousands of classified documents on the war in Afghanistan, one of the largest security breaches in U.S. military history.
U.S. defense officials said the person behind the release of some 91,000 classified documents appeared to have "secret" clearance and access to sensitive documents on the Afghan war. Full story
WikiLeaks highlights U.S. hurdles in run-up to Afghanistan withdrawal
WASHINGTON, July 27 (Xinhua) -- While Sunday's leak of more than 90,000 U.S. military documents divulged little new information, it highlights U.S.forces' uphill climb as they prepare for the July, 2011 deadline to begin withdrawing from Afghanistan.
The leak, posted on a website known as Wikileaks, came at a time when the White House is facing pressure from an increasingly war-weary public to make sure it is on track with the handover of security duties to Afghan forces. Full story
