By Sue Pleming

By Staff
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WASHINGTON, Jun 6 (Reuters) A senior U S State Department official today played down tough criticism by Iraq's Prime Minister over the Haditha incident, saying ''I wouldn't make too much out of'' the remarks.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has strongly condemned the incident in the western Iraqi town of Haditha last November in which U.S. Marines are accused of killing two dozen Iraqi civilians. The incident is under investigation.

The State Department's Iraq coordinator, James Jeffrey, said he believed U.S. forces were well-respected in Iraq and Maliki's outburst was to be expected.

''It's a defence mechanism. ... I wouldn't make too much out of it,'' he said of Maliki's criticism. ''There is a constant buzz in Iraq of what our troops did or didn't do,'' Jeffrey told a group of defence writers.

Last week, Maliki demanded the United States share files from the investigation of the Haditha killings, which he called a ''terrible crime.'' Jeffrey also said he did not believe the impact of the incident could be compared to the scandal over abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, in which shocking pictures were published worldwide.

''I think this will not have the same impact (as Abu Ghraib) in terms of insurgents turning the population against us or turning opinion in the Arab world against us. But that is something that has to be evaluated every day,'' he added.

President George W Bush has said he was troubled by news stories about the November 19 killings of men, women and children in Haditha, and a general at the Pentagon said the incident could complicate the job for the 130,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.

Some U.S. media have compared the Haditha shootings to the 1968 My Lai massacre in the Vietnam War, when U.S. soldiers ran amok in the village. That incident eroded trust in the U.S.

forces both inside America and around the world.

Bush has said the scandal over abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib outside Baghdad was his biggest regret in the Iraq conflict.

Asked whether the Haditha incident could erode Iraqi confidence in U.S. troops, Jeffrey said he believed Iraqis trusted American forces who were often viewed as neutral.

''Whatever the outcome of Haditha I don't think people will use it as the yardstick for dealing with Americans,'' he said.

Jeffrey noted the Haditha killings were getting more attention in the Arab media this week than a week ago and it was important not to play down the incident itself.

The U.S. government often holds up its own human rights record as an example for other countries to follow and public diplomacy efforts were seriously dented by the Abu Ghraib scandal. Photographs showing prisoners being abused and sexually humiliated were leaked in 2004.

Eleven U.S. soldiers have been convicted so far in connection with abuse at Abu Ghraib prison.

REUTERS SRS HT2158

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