A US court sentenced a former Defense Department specialist to 12 years and seven months in prison for giving classified information to an Israeli diplomat and two pro-Israeli lobbyists.

Lawrence Franklin, who had worked as a top US analyst on Iran, was also fined 10,000 dollars.

But he has been cooperating with government investigators and will remain free while his lawyers seek to negotiate a reduction in the sentence, which is already relatively light for such a crime.

Judge T.S. Ellis described it as "a very odd" case as he believed Franklin, who pleaded guilty to three charges last year, had been acting out of a desire to help the United States.

Franklin, 59, was accused of giving secret information about an unnamed Middle East nation to an Israeli diplomat and two lobbyists for the influential American Israeli Public Affairs Committee.

Media reports said the information concerned Iran. Franklin was a desk officer on Iran in the office of the defence secretary.

Franklin was also said to have given information about US troops in     Iraq.

He was also accused of illegally keeping confidential documents at his home in Kearneysville, West Virginia.

US Attorney Paul McNulty said: "The defendant violated his pledge to protect classified information. In doing so, he compromised national security and the system that protects it."

At his first hearing in October, Franklin said he had been acting out of "frustration" with US policy in the Middle East.

He said he hoped the two lobbyists, Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, could influence this policy through their contacts at the US National Security Council.

Ellis described Franklin as "a long time dedicated public servant."

"The record reflects that he did not mean to hurt" the United States, said the judge. He was "concerned about a certain threat to the United States," Ellis added.

"You thought that the only way to bring this problem to the NSC was with this ... secureless method," the judge said.

But Ellis added that this was not an excuse.

"Once the information gets into unauthorized hands, who knows where it goes? Who knows where it travels?"

Franklin is expected to testify against Rosen and Weissman when their trials starts in April. They have both pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to communicate information provided by Franklin.

PHOTO CAPTION

Former US Defense Department specialist Lawrence Franklin, seen here exiting a federal courthouse after appearing in court in Alexandria, Virginia, 2005. (AFP)

Source: AFP