US soldiers charged in rape case

BBC

Four US soldiers have been charged with rape and murder over an attack on an Iraqi woman who was killed along with her family last March.

The soldiers, on active duty in Iraq, are accused of conspiring with former soldier Steven Green to commit the crimes in Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad.

Mr Green, who is being held in the US, denies the rape and murder charges.

A fifth soldier serving in Iraq has been charged with dereliction of duty for failing to report the offences.

Investigation

The US military did not release the names of the soldiers charged in Iraq. They are all infantrymen from the 101st Airborne division, one of the elite US army units.

A statement said they would face an Article 32 investigation, similar to a grand jury hearing in civilian law.

Mr Green denied raping the Iraqi woman and murdering her and three members of her family when he appeared in court in Louisville, Kentucky on Friday.

He faces a possible death sentence if found guilty.

The woman he is alleged to have raped and killed was aged between 14 and 20, the US military says.

The case is one of five investigations in which US troops are accused of murdering Iraqi civilians.