http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Security&loid=8.0.220589288&par=0
SPAIN: MADRID COURT ORDERS ARREST OF US MILITARY FOR IRAQ HOTEL DEATHS
Madrid, 19 Oct. (AKI) - The Madrid chief prosecuto'rs office has
issued arrest warrants for three American soldiers, accused of the
murder of Jose Couso, a Spanish television cameraman, in Iraq. Couso
was killed, along with Reuters cameraman Taras Protsyuk, as they were
filming from the balcony of their 15th-storey room in the Hotel
Palestine. Their room in the hotel, where many journalists were
staying, was hit by a shell from a US armoured vehicle in April 2003.
A Pentagon probe later concluded that the US-led forces bore "no fault
or negligence" when they fired at the building.
After an inquiry lasting more than a year, Santiago Pedraz, a Spanish
High Court judge, has concluded that the three US soldiers; Lieutenant
Colonel Philip de Camp, Sergeant Thomas Gibson and Lieutenant Philip
Wolford, were responsible for the deaths of the two cameramen.
Washington in June rejected a request to question the three men.
The arrest warrant was issued on the basis of an article of Spain's
penal code, which considers an 'act of war' any aggression against
people or goods protected by the Geneva Convention. For the Spanish
judge, "the US soldiers deliberately attacked civilians and a building
that was in no way a military target".
"The ordinance of judge Santiago Pedraz is in some ways revolutionary,
because for the first time the absolute impunity of the US military is
called into question," commented Olga Rodriguez, a journalist who was
in Baghdad at the time of the deaths, and has been a witness.
"The American authorities have not cooperated in any way with the
Spanish investigators, and this behaviour could not be ignored by our
judiciary," she added.
"This warrant is an important step forward and allows us to continue
to have faith in the justice system," said David Couso, brother of the
cameraman.
(Rah/Aki)
Oct-19-05 18:53
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