An American soldier suspected of leaking video footage of a US Apache helicopter strike in Baghdad that killed two employees of the Reuters news agency has been charged, the military said on Tuesday.

Private First Class Bradley E. Manning, held in a military jail in Kuwait since last month in connection with the July 2007 attack, faces two charges of misconduct, said a statement released by the US army in Baghdad.

The first charge, is for violating army regulations by "transferring classified data onto his personal computer and adding unauthorised software to a classified computer system," the statement said.