Iraq vows legal action after US's Haditha sentence
Iraq vowed legal action yesterday over the killing of 24 Iraqis in 2005 after a US marine accused over the massacre was demoted by a military court, but will serve no time behind bars.
The verdict, widely panned in Iraq as being too light, closed a case that fuelled anger and highlighted why authorities demanded US troops be subject to local laws in failed talks to extend the US presence in the country past 2011.
Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, who led an eight-man squad whose other members have all been let off, was sentenced to 90 days confinement but will not serve the term under a deal with prosecutors.
The 31-year-old -- who denied he was a "cold-blooded baby-killer" -- was sentenced to 90 days of confinement and reduction in rank to private, said a statement from Camp Pendleton, California, where he has been on court martial.
In all, 24 Iraqi civilians were killed -- 19 in several houses along with five men who pulled up in a car where the marines were on patrol in the Iraqi town of Haditha on November 19, 2005.
The victims included 10 women or children killed at point-blank range. Six people were killed in one house, most shot in the head, including women and children huddled in a bedroom.
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