Held at a military brig at the Quantico Marine base, Bradley Manning has been placed under a maximum security regimen because authorities see him as posing a risk to national security, said prison spokesman First Lieutenant Brian Villiard.

"Maximum custody detainees" include "those whose escape would cause concern of a threat to life, property or national security," Villiard told AFP.

"What I will tell you is that he is not treated any differently than any other maximum confinement detainee," he said.

Under the stricter security rules, Manning is allowed out of his cell for only one hour a day for exercise outside or at an indoor gym, prompting allegations from some commentators that he is enduring abuse.

The solitary confinement "constitute cruel and inhumane treatment and, by the standards of many nations, even torture," Glenn Greenwald, a lawyer and author, wrote on Salon.com.

The "accused leaker is subjected to detention conditions likely to create long-term psychological injuries," even though Manning has not been convicted of any crime, said Greenwald, who appeared on the MSNBC television network on Friday.

The accusations came the same day that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was freed on bail in Britain, as he fights extradition to Sweden on charges of sexual assault.

But the military defended the detention conditions for Manning, saying other inmates placed in the highest security category were subject to the same rules. The inmates at the brig "are treated with firmness, fairness, dignity and compassion," Villiard said.

But he added: "It's no Shangri-la."

Manning has access to newspapers, is within speaking range of other inmates in his wing, is permitted visitors and chooses from the same food menu as his fellow prisoners.

But under the maximum security rules, Manning is barred from the mess hall and must take his meals in his solitary cell, while prison authorities have decided not to issue him cotton sheets, he said.

Instead, the brig officers have provided two blankets and a pillow made of material that cannot be torn into pieces -- as a "precaution," according to Villiard.

Manning, however, was not on a suicide watch and there had been no major problems with his behavior so far, he said.

The young soldier was arrested in May and has been held in solitary confinement at the Quantico brig, Virginia, since July. US authorities have yet to say when he will be put on trial on eight charges of violating federal criminal law, including transmitting classified information to a third party, and two counts under military law.

If found guilty, Manning faces up to 52 years in prison.

The WikiLeaks website has yet to disclose its source for a massive trove of classified US military and diplomatic documents published in recent months, but suspicion has focused on Manning, who worked as a low-ranking army intelligence analyst in Iraq.

Assange said Friday that WikiLeaks had pledged 50,000 dollars (38,000 euros) towards Manning's legal fund.

But he told ABC television in the US that: "I had never heard of the name Bradley Manning before it was published in the press.

"WikiLeaks technology (was) designed from the very beginning to make sure that we never know the identities or names of people submitting us material."

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