NZ sailor Kerry Hamill, tortured and killed in a Cambodian jail, can never be laid to rest but his brother Rob was yesterday able to see the man responsible for his death jailed.

Wayne Mapp has confirmed the WikiLeaks report of a missile threat faced by an RNZAF Hercules in Afghanistan last year.

Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch, who participated in the torture and killing of Kiwi Rob Hamill's brother, Kerry, is sentenced to 35 years jail.

Today, a court in Cambodia will deliver its verdict on the man who ran Phnom Penh's Tuol Sleng jail.

Murray McCully says Afghanistan's Bamiyan Province, where NZ troops have been since 2003, will be ready to stand on its own before Hamid Karzai's 2014 deadline.

Brigadier Richard Felton points to the maps on the wall of his office in Lashkar Gah, dotted with markers for impending military operations over the long, hot, Afghan fighting season.

The three Gurkhas who died stood no chance. Two - believed to be British nationals - died in the operations room when it came under attack by a rocket-propelled grenade.

Eric Batchelor, one of NZ's most highly decorated World War II soldiers, died in Waimate, on Saturday.

Claims that more than one hundred Iraqi civilians were tortured and abused by British soldiers must be fully investigated, Britain's High Court was told yesterday.

General David Petraeus has formally assumed command of the 130,000-strong international force in Afghanistan.

Republican chief Michael Steele has drawn fire from his own party for calling the commitment of US troops to Afghanistan a 'war of Obama's choosing'.