Eight US Marines charged in Haditha killings

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif, Dec 21 (Reuters) The US military charged four Marines today with murder and four others on related charges in the November 2005 deaths of 24 unarmed civilians in Haditha, Iraq.

The killings of the men, women and children is one of the most serious allegations of misconduct against civilians by US troops in Iraq. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has called the Haditha killings a ''terrible crime.'' Along with the widely publicised abuses of Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison, the killings have damaged US prestige and led to international condemnation.

Marine Corps squad leader Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, whose lawyer said was charged with 13 counts of murder, led a squad investigated in connection with the November 19, 2005 shootings in the western Iraqi town.

Wuterich's attorney, Mark Zaid, said the charges carry a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Others charged with murder are Sgt Sanick Dela Cruz, Lance Cpl Justin Sharratt and Lance Cpl Stephen Tatum. The remaining four are charged with with failure to properly report and/or investigate the deaths.

''The reporting of the incident up the chain of command was inaccurate and untimely,'' Col Stewart Navarre told reporters in announcing the charges.

The military investigation has centreed on a squad of Marines led by Wuterich, 26, who sued Democratic Rep John Murtha in August after he said US troops ''killed innocent civilians in cold blood.'' Once charged, the defendants are entitled to an Article 32 hearing, in which a military judge would decide if there is enough evidence to convene a court-martial. The schedule for the hearing has not been set.

Iraqi witnesses say the Marines shot civilians in their homes to retaliate for the death of their comrade, Lance Cpl Miguel Terrazas, who was ripped in half by a roadside bomb that exploded under a convoy rolling through Haditha, some 60 miles (96 km) north of Baghdad.

Defence lawyers dispute that version of events and say the men from Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division were engaged in a furious battle in Haditha after the bomb exploded and the civilians may have died during the chaos.

Two probes were launched into Haditha, one centering on the shooting and another into whether officers attempted to falsify details of the incident.

Earlier this year, US President George W Bush vowed that any US Marine guilty of shooting Iraqi civilians would be punished.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has called the Haditha killings a ''terrible crime.'' REUTERS PKS RN0312