US military prosecutors are expected to charge seven marines and a navy corpsman in the death of an Iraqi civilian, a lawyer who represents two of the Americans said last night.
The eight men are being held at Camp Pendleton for the April 26th killing of a Hamandiya man and a subsequent attempt to make the dead Iraqi appear to be an insurgent by placing an AK-47 near his body.
Some of the marines in the Hamandiya case are expected to face murder charges, while others may face dereliction of duty charges for assisting in the cover-up, said lawyer David Brahms.
The investigation is not connected to the alleged massacre of 24 Iraqis in the town of Haditha by US soldiers on November 19th.