Army gender treatment for Manning

US national security leaker Chelsea Manning will get initial treatment for a gender-identity condition from the military after the Bureau of Prisons rejected the Army's request to accept her transfer from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to a civilian facility.

Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel has approved the Army's recommendation to keep Manning in military custody and start a rudimentary level of gender treatment.

Defence officials have said the Army doesn't have the medical expertise needed to give Manning the best treatment.

The initial gender treatments provided by the military could include allowing Manning to wear some female undergarments and also possibly provide some hormone treatments. The decision raises questions about what level of treatment Manning will be able to get and at what point she would have to be transferred from the all-male prison to a female facility.

In May, Manning's lawyer, David Coombs, had contended that civilian prisons were not as safe as military facilities.

He said: "It is common knowledge that the federal prison system cannot guarantee the safety and security of Chelsea in the way the military prison system can."

Coombs said on Thursday he was encouraged that the Army will begin medical treatment.