By Martin HickmanStories for which the Sun paid a civil servant thousands of pounds could have come from a variety of legitimate sources rather than a public official, the paper's former editor Rebekah Brooks said today.Giving evidence at the phone hacking trial, Mrs Brooks explained that although she had approved a reporter's requests for payments of £40,000 for military exclusives, she was unaware that the source was a Ministry of Defence official, Bettina Jordan-Barber.Mrs Brooks's counsel, Jonathan Laidlaw QC, asked her to review the articles and consider their possible origins.Scanning a story headlined "Army girl hid baby while in barracks", published on page 7 of the Sun on 3 March 2009, Mrs Brooks said there was "no" indication it had originated from a public official.She told the Old Bailey: "Clearly there is an an Army source [quoted in the article]... obviously I would have read it as an Army source, well - someone who works in the army, but that wouldn't necessarily flag up payment to a public official."Had she known the source was a public official, she would not have sanctioned the payment, she said.Asked about another story - "Married colonel faces boot for Afghan fling" published in the Sun on page 19 on 7 March 2009 - Mrs Brooks said: "There is the MoD confirmation of the story but the original tip could have come from the embassy, it would have come from Kabul... it could have come from a variety of sources, including wives."On another story published in 2009, about a cadet being sacked for a relationship and headlined "The Lust Post," she said: "Part of it, obviously, has come from inside [the Army] because there's a quote there..." but added the whole point of confidential sources was that they were not revealed in stories.She said that the reporter who requested the payments "had contacts everywhere," adding: "Nothing had been brought to my attention. The Sun publishes 100,000 stories a year. I approved it, I probably thought: 'Well done'. I'm surprised at my lack of congratulations [in her response to the request for payment] but I was so busy."Mrs Brooks denies conspiracy to hack phones, conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.