Probe likely to show Haditha civilians were murdered

The military described the Haditha encounter as an ambush during a joint US-Iraqi patrol followed by a firefight, but residents of the neighbourhood maintained that only US forces were shooting after the explosion.

US investigators believe that their criminal investigation into the deaths of about two dozen civilians in the Iraqi city of Haditha in November last year points toward a conclusion that marines committed unprovoked murders, a senior defence official said on Friday.

The allegations against the marines first surfaced when the Iraqi Hammurabi human rights group made available video allegedly showing the aftermath of the Haditha incident, in which 15 people, including women and children, were killed. AP Television News has no way of independently verifying the Hammurabi images.

The military initially described the Haditha encounter as an ambush during a joint US-Iraqi patrol that involved a roadside bombing in which a marine died, followed by a firefight, but residents of the neighbourhood maintained that only US forces were shooting after the explosion.

On Friday, the senior defence official said evidence developed by investigators strongly indicated the killings in the insurgent-plagued city in the western province of Anbar were unjustified.

The official did not disclose specific evidence and discussed the matter only on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk publicly about the investigation, which is still ongoing.

Ongoing probe

Three officers from the unit involved - 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, based at Camp Pendleton, California - have been relieved of duty, although officials have not explicitly linked them to the criminal investigation.

A spokesman at Marine Corps headquarters in the Pentagon on Friday declined to comment on the status of the Haditha investigation and said no information would be provided until the probe was completed.

And a Pentagon spokesman said Defence Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld was being kept apprised, but added that he did not expect any announcements in the next few days.

The Hammurabi rights group frequently cooperates with the US-based Human Rights Watch.

On Friday, a counterterror researcher with Human Rights Watch said his group's review of available information on the Haditha attack lead him to conclude there was no room for doubt that the Haditha deaths were a case of murder. "This was a massacre of civilians. The civilians of Haditha were unarmed and they were intentionally killed by the marines. The only question is who's responsible and who tried to stop it and who took part," John Sifton told AP Television News.

The Haditha incident, if confirmed, could be the most serious case of criminal misconduct by US troops during three years of combat in Iraq. In an indication of how seriously the marines consider the latest developments, their top officer, General Michael W. Hagee, flew to Iraq on Thursday to reinforce the need to adhere to marine values and standards of behaviour and to avoid the use of excess force.

Reports of the alleged military scandal come at a difficult time for President George W. Bush, whose approval ratings hover in the low 30s. Both the House and Senate armed services committees plan to hold hearings on the matter.