2 U.S. soldiers charged with murder

Two U.S. soldiers were charged with premeditated murder and their battalion commander was relieved of duty in connection with the death of an Iraqi, the U.S. military said Thursday.

Army Sgt. 1st Class Trey A. Corrales of San Antonio and Spc. Christopher P. Shore of Winder, Ga., had been charged this week with one count of premeditated murder in an incident that occurred June 23 near the oil-rich northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, the military said in a statement.

The statement said that Lt. Col. Michael Browder, though not suspected of involvement in the death, had been dismissed because of lack of confidence in his leadership.

No further details were available about the case, the latest in a string of episodes in which the U.S. military has accused troops of killing or abusing Iraqis.

The soldiers are assigned to the Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, which is part of the U.S. Army’s 25th Infantry Division based in Hawaii.

The announcement followed the filing of murder charges against three other U.S. soldiers in the last month. They face charges in the deaths of three Iraqis in incidents from April to June near the town of Iskandariya, 25 miles south of Baghdad.

In both cases, the authorities were given information by fellow soldiers, the military said.

At Camp Pendleton, a prosecutor Thursday asked a military jury to sentence Marine Cpl. Trent D. Thomas to 15 years on his conviction on charges of kidnapping and conspiracy to commit murder in the fatal shooting of an Iraqi man in Hamandiya in April 2006.

His defense attorney asked that Thomas not be sent to prison.

The jury is to begin deliberations today.