Major US spy trial opens

Regan has already pleaded not guilty to the charges

Jury selection has begun in the trial of a former US Air Force sergeant charged with attempting to sell military secrets to Iraq and other countries.

Retired intelligence analyst Brian Regan, 40, faces the death penalty if found guilty of the charges, which he denies.

Mr Regan was arrested in August 2001

It is alleged that Mr Regan offered detailed information about American surveillance satellites to Iraq, as well as other military secrets to Libya and China.

Correspondents say spy trials in US courtrooms are rare, in part because the Justice Department usually negotiates a deal in order to stop any embarrassing disclosures.

'Letter writer'

Prosecutors say that Mr Regan wrote a letter to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein - whom the US wants to oust - offering information that could have helped Baghdad to hide anti-aircraft missiles.

The letter, which was allegedly found on his home computer, demanded $13m in exchange.

The US is currently preparing for war against Saddam Hussein

He is also accused of writing another letter to the Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, offering him a secret US report on Libyan air defences and information on US early warning systems.

When he was arrested at Dulles International Airport near Washington police allegedly found addresses for the Chinese and Iraqi embassies in Switzerland and Austria in his wallet and secreted in the sole of his shoe.

But the BBC's Michael Buchanan in Washington says prosecutors have so far offered little evidence that he actually sold any secrets.

No plea bargain

Mr Regan had worked for the National Reconnaissance Office, a military intelligence agency that builds and operates America's network of spy satellites.

While the judge could sentence him to death, no-one has been executed in the US for spying since 1953.

Last year Robert Hanssen was sentenced to life imprisonment after pleading guilty to selling secrets to Moscow for $1.4m in money and diamonds.

His prosecutors dropped their attempt to seek the death penalty in exchange for the former agent's full co-operation in disclosing his spying activities.