7 British troops to face Iraqi murder charge
AFP, London
Seven British soldiers are to be charged with the murder of an Iraqi civilian in a further blow to the reputation of the country's armed forces, a report said yesterday. The troops would be tried in connection with an incident shortly after the March 2003 US-led war in Iraq in which witnesses allegedly saw soldiers punching an Iraqi man and hitting him with rifle butts, the Daily Mail said. They will be court martialed in Germany, the paper said, citing unnamed senior legal sources with British forces in the country. Three other British troops are currently facing a court martial in Osnabrueck, Germany, for allegedly abusing Iraqi civilians at a base in the southern city of Basra. In September last year, another British soldier was charged by civilian prosecutors with murdering an Iraqi civilian, and is to face trial in a non-military court.
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