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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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May 1st,
2009 - U.S. Says Troops Will Not Face Trial Over Iraq Raid |
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U.S. Says Troops
Will Not Face Trial Over Iraq Raid From Reuters May 1, 2009 Baghdad - U.S. soldiers will
not appear in Iraqi courts to answer any charges relating to a raid this week
that killed two people in Iraq and triggered condemnation from Prime Minister
Nuri al-Maliki, the U.S. military has said. In a video-conference
interview with Reuters TV Washington late on Thursday, Brigadier-General
Peter Bayer, chief of staff for the U.S. military's day to day operations in
Iraq, said the raid in the southern city of Kut was "lawful and
legal." Responding to a question
whether American soldiers would appear in Iraqi courts, he replied: "No.
Absolutely not." "(The raid) was a
sanctioned and authorized combat operation in accordance with ... the
security agreement. The target of the raid was a named subject in an arrest
warrant issued by an Iraqi judge. And the raid was coordinated with the Iraqi
government." Under the U.S.-Iraqi
security pact that came into force this year, the 135,000 U.S. troops in Iraq
can no longer conduct military operations without Iraqi approval. The fallout from the
operation early on Sunday, which Maliki labeled a "crime," poses
the first major test to the pact, which allows U.S. troops to stay in Iraq
until the end of 2011. The prime minister said they violated it. Maliki, an increasingly
assertive leader as his popularity grows at home and U.S. influence in Iraq
diminishes, also said those responsible for the raid should be sent to court -
the first such demand since the pact took effect in January. The agreement says U.S.
soldiers are immune from prosecution in Iraqi courts unless they are
suspected of grave crimes committed while off duty outside their bases. In
all other cases, suspected crimes would be tried by U.S. military justice. "Unfortunately ... it
was a combat operation, and two people were killed but it was a lawful and
legal operation, conducted in the spirit of the security agreement,"
Bayer said. The Iraqi government has
asked General Ray Odierno, the U.S. commander in Iraq, for an official
apology for the raid. Reporting by Deborah
Lutterbeck; writing by Tim Cocks; editing by Philippa Fletcher. © Thomson Reuters 2009. All
rights reserved. External link: http://uk.reuters.com/article/usTopNews/idUKTRE53P18C20090501 |