Haditha cover-up probe sent to US commander in Iraq

WASHINGTON, July 8 (Reuters) Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, has been sent a report on whether there was a cover-up of Marines' involvement in the killing of up to 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha last year, the military said.

Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, head of U.S. ground forces in Iraq, completed his review of an investigation team report of whether Marines involved in the Nov. 19 incident lied about what happened and whether senior officers sufficiently examined their account.

''Chiarelli completed his findings and recommendations todayand forwarded copies of the report to the commander (of) Multi-National Forces-Iraq,'' the military said in a brief statement yesterday. It gave no indication of the findings.

Chiarelli received the findings of the investigative team headed by Maj. Gen. Eldon Bargewell three weeks ago.

A separate Naval Criminal Investigative Service probe into the role of Marines in the killing of civilians in Haditha could lead to murder charges.

The probe was one of a series into alleged misconduct by U.S. troops in Iraq. The Haditha case in particular has drawn comparisons with the 1968 My Lai massacre in Vietnam.

The Marine Corps has instructed commanders to retain documents related to the killing of Iraqi civilians both in Haditha and Hamdania, because Congress will likely hold hearings and request the information, according to a memo obtained by Reuters.

Seven Marines and a Navy medic have been charged with premeditated murder and other crimes in the April killing of an Iraqi civilian in Hamdania, a village west of Baghdad.

The July 6 memo instructs all commanders to retain and preserve documents and email messages related to those incidents, ''their planning, execution and subsequent reporting and any documents referring to any aspect of them.'' ''The alleged events at Haditha and Hamdania have generated intense interest both in the media and Congress,'' the memo stated. ''We can reasonably anticipate that Congress will hold hearings regarding those events and will request the production of records that pertain to them.'' Reuters PDS VP0435