US officer in Iraq gets 2-year jail sentence

BAGHDAD, Oct 19 (Reuters) A senior US army officer in Iraq was sentenced to two years in prison today after a court martial found him guilty of illegally possessing thousands of secret military documents.

Lieutenant-Colonel William Steele, 52, was acquitted earlier today on the more serious charge of aiding the enemy, which carried a sentence of life imprisonment, for allowing security detainees to use his mobile telephone for unmonitored calls.

REUTERS RSA RAI2224