BBC Reports Another 'Massacre,' as Iraqi Leader Rips U.S. Military

By: E&P Staff and The Associated Press In the wake of the Haditha controversy, the BBC in London says it has uncovered new video evidence that U.S. forces may have been responsible for the deliberate killing of 11 innocent Iraqi civilians in another town. "The video appears to challenge the U.S. military's account of events that took place in the town of Ishaqi in March," the BBC reported early Friday. Later, the military said its probe had not sustained this charge.

Meanwhile, The New York Times is reporting Friday that Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki has denounced the American military for habitual attacks by troops against civilians.

Maliki said violence against civilians had become a "daily phenomenon" by troops in the American-led coalition who "do not respect the Iraqi people....They crush them with their vehicles and kill them just on suspicion," he said. "This is completely unacceptable."

Referring to Haditha, a deputy prime minister said, according to the Times, "As you know, this is not the only massacre, and there are a lot."

In the new incident reported by the BBC, the U.S. said at the time four people died during a military operation, but Iraqi police claim that U.S. troops had deliberately shot the 11 people.

A spokesman for U.S. forces in Iraq told the BBC an inquiry was under way.

"According to the Americans, the building collapsed under heavy fire killing four people - a suspect, two women and a child," the BBC said. "But a report filed by Iraqi police accused US troops of rounding up and deliberately shooting 11 people in the house, including five children and four women, before blowing up the building.

"The video tape obtained by the BBC shows a number of dead adults and children at the site with what our world affairs editor John Simpson says were clearly gunshot wounds. "

Meanwhile, in the U.S., military prosecutors plan to file murder, kidnapping and conspiracy charges against seven Marines and a Navy corpsman in the shooting death of an Iraqi man in April, a defense lawyer said Thursday.

The eight men are being held in the brig at Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base north of San Diego, said Jeremiah Sullivan III, who represents one of the men.

The men served in Iraq with the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, and are members of the battalion's Kilo Company. The highest-ranking among them is a staff sergeant.

Sullivan said he learned from Marine Corps attorneys that the charges have been drafted and official charging documents could be given to the men as early as Friday.