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Spain drops journo death charges against US soldiers
Spain's National Court has dropped charges against three U.S. military men in connection with the 2003 killing of a Spanish television cameraman in Baghdad. "There was no crime, rather an act of war against a mistakenly identified enemy," said the court in the ruling made public on Friday. The same court last October had upheld warrants for the arrest on murder charges of two U.S. Army officers and a sergeant in the killing of Jose Couso in April, 2003 during the chaotic days when U.S. forces were taking control of the Iraqi capital.

Couso, who worked for Spain's Tele 5 network, was killed while filming from a balcony of the Palestine Hotel in the Iraqi capital. A colleague from Reuters, Ukrainian photographer Taras Protsyuk, also died from the explosion of the round fired by a U.S. Army tank. The three accused men never were in Spanish custody. The charges carried possible jail sentences of 10 to 20 years. Judiciary sources said Pedraz would formally "archive" the case on Friday, "in accordance with the criteria of his hierarchical superiors".

Last month, U.S. authorities refused Pedraz permission to question the three soldiers implicated in Couso's death: Sgt. Thomas Gibson, Capt. Philip Wolford and Lt. Col. Philip de Camp of the 3rd Armored Division of the U.S. Infantry. The United States rejected Spanish jurisdiction in the matter and repeated the official version of the U.S. Army that the round that killed Couso was launched as part of an action of returning enemy fire, presumably from Iraqis in another part of the hotel.
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Posted by: Seafarious 2006-03-10
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=145049