Three Us Soldiers Charged With Murdering Iraqi Prisoners

Three US troops have been charged with murder for shooting three Iraqi prisoners and threatening to kill a fellow soldier who wanted to report the incident, the Pentagon said yesterday. The three men killed were among 200 Iraqis held after a raid on a former chemical factory south-west of Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown, the Pentagon charge sheet said.

Staff Sergeant Raymond Girouard, Specialist William Husaker and Private Corey Clagett, all members of the 101st Airborne Division, face charges of premeditated murder, attempted murder and obstructing justice. If convicted of premeditated murder, they could face the death penalty under US military law.

The prosecution is the third instance in weeks of alleged war crimes by US forces in Iraq, with investigations into the killing of 24 Iraqi civilians by marines at the town of Haditha in last November, and a separate inquiry into the killing of a disabled Iraqi man by marines in the town of Hamdania on April 26. In the Haditha case, as in the prosecution announced yesterday, investigators are also looking into efforts to cover up the original incident.

The conduct of US forces in Iraq was also under scrutiny in Italy yesterday where prosecutors called for the indictment of an American soldier for the shooting of an Italian intelligence agent at a checkpoint in Iraq last year. The request to charge Mario Lozano, a national guardsman from New York, with the murder of Nicola Calipari, a senior military intelligence officer, was signed by four Rome prosecutors. They referred to the shooting as a "political crime" which harmed Italy's interests.

Mr Calipari was killed on March 4 last year while he was escorting an Italian journalist, Giuliana Sgrena, to safety after she had been released by insurgents who had kidnapped her. At least one American soldier manning a checkpoint on the airport road fired at the car in which they were travelling towards the airport. Ms Sgrena and another Italian agent were wounded.

The move for an indictment against a US soldier is likely to further sour US-Italian relations, which were already affected by the defeat in April's general election of Mr Bush's close ally, Silvio Berlusconi. Romano Prodi, the new prime minister, is withdrawing Italian troops from Iraq.

The Pentagon said yesterday there had already been an inquiry into the incident, and that the US military had recommended that no disciplinary action be taken. The case will now go before an Italian judge, who will rule on whether the soldier should be charged and a trial go ahead. If the US authorities refuse a request to extradite Mr Lozano, Italian law would allow him to be tried in absentia.

In Iraq, US and Iraqi forces stepped up their hunt for two missing American soldiers yesterday as a Sunni militant group claimed it had abducted the two men during an attack on a US checkpoint last Friday night. The US military in Baghdad said more than 8,000 troops were involved in the effort to find the men, who went missing in the town of Yusufiya, south of Baghdad. Witnesses said they had seen the soldiers being led away by masked gunmen after an attack on their Humvee, which left a third soldier dead. The search operation has so far involved US warplanes, helicopters, aerial drones, boats and diving teams and a number of ground raids.

In a statement on an Islamist website, the Mujahideen Shura Council, an umbrella organisation that includes al-Qaida in Iraq, said it had taken the soldiers hostage. It did not issue any demands or threats, and offered no proof that the soldiers were being held. In a separate message the council also said it had kidnapped four Russians in Baghdad on June 3.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, said Iraqi forces would next month take over responsibility for security in Muthanna province, one of four provinces under British control in the south of the country. The decision was described by the defence secretary, Des Browne, as a "significant milestone for the people of Iraq". However, the move is largely symbolic - Iraqi forces have already assumed much of the day-to-day responsibility for security in the area.