An Iraqi court on Sunday freed two men accused of being part of a hundreds-strong mob that killed six British troops in 2003, angering the soldiers’ parents, but drawing smiles from those in the courtroom.
Judge Baligh Hamdi’s decision to throw out the case against Hamza Hateer, 33, and Mussa Ismael al-Fartusi, 39, means no one has yet been convicted over the military policemen’s killing, though seven arrest warrants remain outstanding.
“The court did not see sufficient proof to condemn you and has decided to release you,” the judge told the pair in the Central Criminal Court of Iraq after hearing from eight witnesses, all of them serving or retired policemen.
The six troops were killed when a mob of about 400 people attacked a police station in Majar Al-Kabir, southern Iraq, on June 24, 2003.
Four Iraqis were also killed and 17 injured in the incident, according to then-village chief Abu Maryam.
In Britain, the father of one of the killed policemen, 21-year-old Corporal Simon Miller, said that he was “devastated” by the news.
John Miller, 59, from northeast England, said: “My son was let down so badly in life, now he has been let down so badly in death. I’m devastated, I just can’t believe it.”
In the courtroom, however, Iraqis attending the hearing broke out into smiles after the judge announced the charges were being dropped.
“It is not logical to accuse Iraqis of killing soldiers occupying our country,” said a court employee who did not want to give his name.
Britain’s Ministry of Defence pledged to continue pressing for those behind the killings to be prosecuted.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of