albinsaid09
New Member
Spain seeks U.S. soldiers’ arrest over Iraq killing
Spain issued an international arrest warrant for three American soldiers accused of being responsible for the killing of a Spanish cameraman in Iraq in April 2003, court officials said on Tuesday.
Judge Santiago Pedraz of the Spanish National Court issued an international search-and-capture order for U.S. Sergeant Thomas Gibson, Captain Philip Wolford and Lieutenant Colonel Philip de Camp.
The three are accused of ordering a tank shelling of Baghdad’s Palestine Hotel, where Jose Couso, who worked for private Spanish television Telecinco, was staying.
Couso was fatally injured in the shelling and died later.
Reuters cameraman Taras Protsyuk was also killed in the U.S. attack and three other Reuters employees were seriously injured.
The Palestine Hotel was the base for almost all the foreign media crews in Baghdad during the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
Footage of the U.S. attack, which did not record any fire from the hotel, was witnessed around the world.
Judge Pedraz also asked prosecutors to determine whether the soldiers’ assets in the United States could be frozen against any future compensation claims, officials said.
The Spanish national Court had issued a similar arrest warrant for the three American soldiers in 2005, but the case was later shelved after the court ruled that Spain’s judicial authority did not extend to the United States.
But in December 2006, Spain’s Supreme Court ordered the National Court to reopen the case.
Correspondents say the U.S. authorities are very unlikely to co-operate with the international arrest warrant.
The United States had confirmed the tank shelling, but acquitted the three soldiers, claiming that they took justified and proportionate action.
source: www.Aljazeera.com
Spain issued an international arrest warrant for three American soldiers accused of being responsible for the killing of a Spanish cameraman in Iraq in April 2003, court officials said on Tuesday.
Judge Santiago Pedraz of the Spanish National Court issued an international search-and-capture order for U.S. Sergeant Thomas Gibson, Captain Philip Wolford and Lieutenant Colonel Philip de Camp.
The three are accused of ordering a tank shelling of Baghdad’s Palestine Hotel, where Jose Couso, who worked for private Spanish television Telecinco, was staying.
Couso was fatally injured in the shelling and died later.
Reuters cameraman Taras Protsyuk was also killed in the U.S. attack and three other Reuters employees were seriously injured.
The Palestine Hotel was the base for almost all the foreign media crews in Baghdad during the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
Footage of the U.S. attack, which did not record any fire from the hotel, was witnessed around the world.
Judge Pedraz also asked prosecutors to determine whether the soldiers’ assets in the United States could be frozen against any future compensation claims, officials said.
The Spanish national Court had issued a similar arrest warrant for the three American soldiers in 2005, but the case was later shelved after the court ruled that Spain’s judicial authority did not extend to the United States.
But in December 2006, Spain’s Supreme Court ordered the National Court to reopen the case.
Correspondents say the U.S. authorities are very unlikely to co-operate with the international arrest warrant.
The United States had confirmed the tank shelling, but acquitted the three soldiers, claiming that they took justified and proportionate action.
source: www.Aljazeera.com