SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Protesters interrupted
President Barack Obama at a fund-raiser Thursday, breaking
into song to press for the release of a U.S. soldier accused of
leaking secret files that appeared on the WikiLeaks website.
Obama, who came to California to sell his deficit-reduction
plan and raise money for his re-election campaign, was
addressing a room of about 200 people -- many of whom paid as
much as $35,800 to see him -- when a woman announced that she
and others had composed him a song.
Then she and her nine table-mates broke into a song that
called for 23-year-old soldier Bradley Manning to be released.
"Now, where was I?" the somewhat flustered president said
after the group stopped. "There's an example of creativity."
Obama's administration has come under criticism for its
treatment of Manning. The soldier is being held during an
investigation of charges involving reams of sensitive
diplomatic and military documents he is accused of leaking
while posted as an intelligence analyst in Iraq.
U.S. military officials have not said when Manning's trial
might begin.
He was transferred Wednesday to a detention facility at
Fort Leavenworth military base in Kansas after his lawyers
complained he was being mistreated at a Marine brig in
Virginia.
He was kept alone in his cell 23 hours per day and forced to
sleep naked while being awakened repeatedly during the night.
The Pentagon said this was done to ensure his well-being and
that it had only happened on a few occasions.
In March, Obama said he had been assured by the Pentagon
that Manning's treatment was appropriate.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Will Dunham and Vicki
Allen)
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