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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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July 19th,
2006 - Marine Cleared in Shooting Death of Iraq Ambassador’s Relative |
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Marine Cleared in Shooting
Death of Iraq Ambassador’s Relative By Associated Press July 19, 2006 Baghdad, Iraq - A U.S. Marine has been cleared of criminal
wrongdoing in last year's fatal shooting of a relative of Iraq's ambassador
to the United States, a U.S. official said Wednesday. The 21-year-old engineering
student, Mohammed Sumaidaie, was killed during a search of his family's home
near Haditha on June 25, 2005. U.S. authorities ordered an investigation
after Samir Sumaidaie complained that his unarmed cousin had been shot in
cold blood. However, Maj. Douglas
Powell, a U.S. military spokesman, said the Naval Criminal Investigative
Service determined that the Marine "acted properly in self defense in
response to unexpectedly encountering a man pointing an AK-47 at him." He said in an e-mail that
investigators interviewed more than 40 people and conducted forensic
examinations of the Marine's weapon. He did not say when the investigation
was completed. "This was an
unfortunate incident resulting in a tragic loss of life," Powell said
without providing further details. At the time of the shooting,
Samir Sumaidaie was Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations. He has since
been appointed the country's envoy to Washington. Iraqi anger over abuse cases
involving American troops have increased since five soldiers and one
ex-soldier were accused in the alleged rape-murder of a teenager last March
near Mahmoudiya. Her parents and sister were also slain. Five soldiers from the 101st
Airborne Division are accused of raping and murdering Abeer al-Janabi and a
sixth is accused of failing to report the crime. The attack was the latest in
a string of allegations that U.S. soldiers and Marines in Iraq have killed
civilians, including the alleged massacre of dozens in Haditha last November. External link: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,204438,00.html |