Lawrence Franklin, 58, a specialist on Iran, Iraq and terrorism issues, worked at the time of the events for a top Pentagon official, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith.

Asked how he pleaded on three charges against him, Franklin told US District Court Judge T.S. Ellis : "Guilty, your honor."

Franklin was charged in June with having transmitted secret information about an unidentified Middle Eastern country to an Israeli diplomat and two employees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in 2003 and 2004, and with unlawful retention of classified materials.

The two AIPAC employees were also charged in August in the "conspiracy to communicate national defense information to persons not entitled to receive it."

Steven Rosen, AIPAC's former political director, and Keith Weissman, formerly an Iran expert at the organization, are suspected of passing along information furnished by Franklin to Israel.

Franklin indicated Wednesday that he knew the Israeli diplomat was a political officer at the Israeli embassy.

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