US probe finds Haditha victims were shot-NYT

WASHINGTON, May 31 (Reuters) A US military investigation found evidence showing all the civilians killed in the Iraqi town of Haditha in November had gunshot wounds, contradicting Marines' claims they were victims of a roadside bomb, The New York Times reported today.

US military officials now say the killings of up to 24 civilians, including women and children, appear to have been an unprovoked attack by Marines, the newspaper said.

The report, citing an unidentified senior military official in Iraq, said the investigation in February and March led by Col.

Gregory Watt, an Army officer in Baghdad, uncovered death certificates showing the Iraqis were shot mostly in the head and chest.

The three-week probe was the first official investigation into the killings, which Marines initially attributed to a roadside bomb.

''There were enough inconsistencies that things didn't add up,'' the senior official was quoted as saying by the Times.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, had been briefed on the conclusion of Watt's preliminary investigation, the newspaper said. The findings have not been made public.

Watt's investigation also reviewed cash payments of 38,000 dollars made within weeks of the shootings to families of victims, The New York Times said.

In an interview with the newspaper yesterday, Maj Dana Hyatt said his superiors told him to compensate the relatives of 15 victims, but that the rest of those killed had been determined to have committed hostile acts, leaving their families ineligible for compensation.

The US military sometimes pays compensation to relatives of civilian victims.

REUTERS SHB PM1743