US soldiers face Iraq murder charges

Two US soldiers will be called for hearings at a US base in Tikrit on charges relating to deaths of detainees during their Iraq tours.

The pre-trial hearing of first Lt. Michael C. Behenna will be held on September 20. He has been charged with premeditated murder, assault, making a false official statement and obstruction of justice in the death of Ali Mansour Mohammed, the US military stated.

The same charges have been filed against Staff Sgt. Hal M. Warner. His Article 32 hearing under the United States Uniform Code of Military Justice is being held to determine whether there is substantial evidence for a court-martial and has been set for Thursday.

Both men are assigned to the same company from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, stationed in Beiji in northern Iraq.

The military statement did not detail the allegations but victim Mansour Mohammed, who was shot, was initially thought to have been released in May.

In late August, a civilian jury acquitted a former US Marine charged with voluntary manslaughter in killings of four unarmed Iraqi detainees in Fallujah in November 2004.

Jose Luis Nazario Jr. escaped a sentence of over 10 years in prison due to lack of evidence as the case was based primarily on the accounts of his former comrades, including two who refused to testify.

Also in March 2007, three noncommissioned US army officers gunned down four handcuffed and blindfolded Iraqi prisoners on a combat patrol west of Baghdad as retribution for the deaths of two soldiers from their unit.

The soldiers have not been charged with a crime yet.

The US launched a military campaign against Iraq in March 2003. The stated purpose of the war was the removal of the government of Saddam Hussein and his alleged weapons of mass destruction which were never found.

Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians have lost their lives since the US invaded the country.