Abu Ghraib soldier wants court martial site moved

MANNHEIM - A United States soldier at the centre of the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal wants his pending court martial to be moved from Baghdad as he believes he has no chance of a fair trial there.

Specialist Charles Graner and three others are accused of sexually humiliating and, in some cases, beating detainees at Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib Prison.

Photos of them tormenting naked Iraqis aroused worldwide outrage when they emerged in April and sparked criticism that sweeping US anti-terror policies had encouraged the abuses.

Graner, 35, who faces the most serious accusations and who featured prominently in the abuse photographs, was the first to appear at the pre-trial hearing at a US Army base in Germany.

His lawyers argued that publicity surrounding events at Abu Ghraib meant it would be impossible to find an unbiased jury among Graner's peers.

"While the prejudice would be worldwide, it is extremely acute in Baghdad, as the feeling would be that he has hurt the mission," Captain Jay Heath, one of Graner's two lawyers, told the judge. "There are suggestions his actions have caused the death of some US soldiers," Heath said.

But Judge James Pohl said it was premature to rule on the matter.

Graner's second lawyer, Guy Womack, later told reporters it would be almost impossible to persuade civilian witnesses to travel to Iraq.

Womack said he would press for the case to be moved from Baghdad at the next hearing, scheduled to take place in the Iraqi capital on October 21.

He planned to lodge a complaint against statements by President George W. Bush and his Government implying Graner was guilty.

Dressed in desert fatigues, Graner answered questions about the long hours in Iraq, sometimes 17 hours a day transferring detainees, and the stress of being under fire.

"We worked every day ... Several of our platoon had taken fire.

"Both my room-mates had been injured, took blasts ... It was one of the most stressful times," the military policeman said.

Earlier, a military investigator referred to CDs, taken from Graner's room during a search in January, with hundreds of photographs featuring detainees being abused.

Graner's lawyers said the photographs were taken without his full consent, but Judge Pohl dismissed a motion to strike the potentially incriminating images from his court martial.

Graner is accused of photographing a detainee being dragged by Private First Class Lynndie England on a leash, and posing for a picture by a pile of naked detainees in November.

He is also said to have forced prisoners to strip naked and masturbate in front of one another, and one to simulate oral sex on another, before taking pictures.

Graner is also charged with committing adultery, an offence against military discipline.

Defence lawyers for the accused argue all four were following orders to systematically break inmates for interrogation.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq