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Haditha probe points to marines
02/08/2006 19:54 - (SA)
Washington - Evidence collected on the deaths of 24 Iraqis in the western town of Haditha supports accusations that United States marines deliberately shot Iraqi civilians.
A defence department official said on Wednesday that this included unarmed women and children.
Agents of the naval criminal investigative service have completed their initial work on the incident last November, but may be asked to probe further as marine corps and navy prosecutors review the evidence and determine whether to recommend criminal charges, according to two Pentagon officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The decision on whether to press criminal charges ultimately will be made by the commander of the accused marines' parent unit, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton, California.
Killed in crossfire
That is Lieutenant-General John Sattler, but he is scheduled to move to a Pentagon assignment soon; his successor will be Lieutenant-General James Mattis.
The marines initially reported after the November 19 2005 killings that 15 Iraqi civilians at Haditha had been killed by a makeshift roadside bomb and in crossfire between marines and insurgent attackers.
Based on accounts from survivors and human-rights groups, Time magazine first reported in March that the killings were deliberate acts by the marines.
A criminal investigation was ordered by the top marine commander in Iraq, Major-General Richard Zilmer.
A parallel investigation is examining whether officers in the marines' chain of command tried to cover up the events.
Public attention to the case grew after congressman John Murtha, a former marine, asserted publicly on May 17 that he had learned from marine corps officials that innocent Iraqis had been killed "in cold blood".
'False information'
Lawyers for staff sergeant Frank D Wuterich, one of the accused marines, argue in a lawsuit that is due to be filed on Wednesday in federal court that Murtha falsely accused Wuterich of murder and war crimes.
The suit maintains that Pentagon officials "who have briefed or leaked information to Mr Murtha deliberately provided him with inaccurate and false information" and that the congressman subsequently "has made repeated statements... that are defamatory" to Wuterich and his fellow marines.
- AP
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