A US defense department linguist has been charged with allegedly transmitting “highly sensitive classified” information to a foreign national linked to the Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah.

Mariam Thompson, 61, is accused of allegedly endangering the lives of US military personnel and others on “active” duty by revealing their real names.

Her alleged actions were a “threat to national security”, US officials said.

Thompson was arrested by FBI agents at an overseas US base on 27 February. She worked as a contract linguist and held a “top secret government security clearance”, the US justice department said in a statement on Wednesday.

“While in a war zone, the defendant allegedly gave sensitive national defense information, including the names of individuals helping the United States, to a Lebanese national located overseas,” the justice department’s assistant attorney general for national security, John Demers, said.

“If true, this conduct is a disgrace, especially for someone serving as a contractor with the United States military. This betrayal of country and colleagues will be punished,” he added.

The statement says that an investigation into Thompson established “a notable shift” in her network activity on the department’s classified systems, including accessing “information she had no reason to access”.

Source: BBC