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5 more U.S. soldiers charged over deaths

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published July 10, 2006

TIKRIT, Iraq - Four more U.S. soldiers have been charged with rape and murder and a fifth with dereliction of duty in the alleged rape-slaying of a young Iraqi woman and the killings of her relatives in Mahmoudiya, the military said Sunday.

The five were accused Saturday after an investigation into allegations that American soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division raped the young woman and killed her and three relatives at her home south of Baghdad.

Former U.S. Army private Steven D. Green, 21, was arrested last week in North Carolina and has pleaded not guilty to one count of rape and four counts of murder.

The U.S. statement said the five soldiers still on active duty will face an Article 32 investigation, similar to a grand jury hearing in civilian law. The Article 32 proceeding will determine whether there is enough evidence to place them on trial.

One of the soldiers was charged with failing to report the attack but is not believed to have participated in it directly, the statement said. The four facing murder charges could face the death penalty if convicted. The names of the five were not released.

According to the affidavit by Special Agent Gregor J. Ahlers, who said his information came largely from Army investigators who interviewed at least three of the soldiers involved, Green allegedly killed three family members before he and another soldier raped the young woman, whose age is in dispute. Green then allegedly shot the victim to death with an AK-47 found in the house.

Two soldiers allegedly accompanied Green and his accomplices to the house but merely stood guard. Another soldier stayed at a checkpoint to monitor radio traffic.

The affidavit estimated the rape victim was about 25. But a doctor at the Mahmoudiya hospital gave her age as 14. He refused to be identified for fear of reprisals.

Iraqi authorities identified the rape victim as Abeer Qassim Hamza. The other victims were her father, Qassim Hamza; her mother, Fikhriya Taha; and her sister, Hadeel Qassim Hamza, estimated to be 5 years old.

Green received an honorable discharge from the military and returned to the United States before the alleged incident in Mahmoudiya came to light late last month.

The five newly accused remain in Iraq but have been removed from their normal duties and are only allowed within the confines of their base, said Maj. Joseph Todd Breasseale, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Iraq.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has demanded an independent investigation into the case.

Information from the Los Angeles Times was used in this report.

[Last modified July 9, 2006, 23:47:24]