Chelsea Manning has made 'several friends who accept her for who she is'

A lawyer for army private Chelsea Manning says the soldier is doing well as she goes through the indoctrination process at military prison.

David Coombs said on his blog on Thursday that he was able to speak with Manning, previously known as Bradley Manning, while she goes through the three-week indoctrination at Fort Leavenworth.

Coombs said inmates are not usually allowed to have outside contact during that time, but the US disciplinary barracks made an exception for Manning.

He said Wednesday was the first time he talked with Manning since she was sentenced to 35 years for leaking mountains of classified material to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks.

Coombs said Manning had made some friends and was grateful for the support for her decision to live as a woman.

He wrote: "I am happy to report that she is doing very well at the USDB, and has already made several friends who accept her for who she is. Due to going through indoctrination, Chelsea was unaware of the response to her public statement on the Today show. During our conversation, I informed Chelsea of the overwhelming support for her decision.

"I also told her about how most responsible media have elected to respect her wishes and refer to her by her new name. Chelsea was very happy to hear of these developments. She requested that I relay how grateful that she is for everyone's understanding and continued support."

The Associated Press contributed to this report

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