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British coroner disputes finding in soldier's death

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published March 17, 2007

LONDON - A British coroner ruled Friday that an attack by two American pilots that killed a British soldier in Iraq was a criminal assault, contradicting a U.S. finding that the incident captured in a dramatic cockpit video was a tragic accident.

The finding has no direct legal consequences but the case has stirred tensions between Britain and the United States, which declined to send the pilots to give evidence and repeatedly refused to release the cockpit recording. The recording was eventually leaked to a British newspaper and broadcast across the world.

In the tape, one U.S. pilot says, "We're in jail dude," after realizing his team has killed a member of the coalition forces.

Oxfordshire Assistant Deputy Coroner Andrew Walker did not say whether he would recommend a criminal investigation, and the widow of Lance Cpl. Matty Hull, 25, said she would not pursue criminal charges against the pilots.

Walker said there was no evidence the attack that killed Hull resulted from either self-defense or an honest mistake. He did not offer a detailed explanation of his finding, but said the Idaho Air National Guard pilot who fired the fatal shots acted outside the law by failing to "properly identify the vehicles and seek clearance before opening fire."

"The attack on the convoy amounted to an assault," Walker said. "It was unlawful because there was no lawful reason for it, and in that respect it was criminal."

He criticized the U.S. military for failing to cooperate with his inquiry.

The Pentagon extended its condolences to Hull's family but the U.S. State Department disputed the finding.

"We would not agree with the characterization of it as a criminal act," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.

The cockpit video captured the attack on March 28, 2003, when two U.S. jets made a deadly mistake in assuming that a British convoy was a caravan of rocket-toting insurgents. Hull was killed and four other British soldiers were wounded.

British Staff Cpl. Stuart Matthews, a ground traffic controller, testified ground control never gave permission for the U.S. pilots to fire. The U.S. military has refused to provide the rules of engagement under which the pilots were operating, but said procedures were followed.

Coalition accidentally kills Afghan police

The Afghan government said Friday that U.S.-led coalition forces mistakenly killed five Afghan police in a southern province. A coalition spokesman said Americans were not involved in the incident.

The police were at a checkpoint in Gereshk district of Helmand province, Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary said.

"Coalition forces mistakenly opened fire on police," Bashary said. "Unfortunately five policemen were killed."

[Last modified March 17, 2007, 02:05:31]