Govt planning to charge co-conspirators in US spy case

MANILA (AFP) - The government is considering charges against the co-conspirators of a senior White House aide jailed in the United States for passing top-secret documents to coup plotters in Manila.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said Thursday the government was looking at filing charges of sedition and espionage against the Filipinos named by Leandro Aragoncillo.

Aragoncillo, a 48-year-old Filipino-American and former aide to US Vice Presidents Dick Cheney and Al Gore, was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to passing classified information to opponents of President Gloria Arroyo.

A police official was also jailed for similar offences.

Gonzalez refused to name the co-conspirators, but told reporters they were looking at those named by Aragoncillo during his US trial.