LONDON, Feb 3 (AFP) - Seven British soldiers will face court martial over the murder of a civilian in southern Iraq a month after the fall of dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003, Attorney General Peter Goldsmith said Thursday.
The men, who all served with the 3rd Parachute Regiment, will be charged with murder and violent disorder, following orders from the British army's prosecuting board.
The attorney general's office said the alleged murder of the Iraqi civilian took place in May 2003 on a roadside in al-U'Zayra, reportedly following a car chase near a checkpoint in the main southern city of Basra.
Goldsmith named three of the defendants as Corporal Scott Evans, Private William Nerney and Daniel Harding, now a civilian, adding the other four would be named once they have been informed of the charges against them.
No date has yet been set for the court martial or a preliminary hearing.
The announcement will be another blow to the government and the army after photographs were released last month during a trial at a base in Germany of British soldiers allegedly abusing Iraqi looters.
However, a British soldier who pleaded guilty to assaulting an Iraqi civilian during the trial has had a charge of disgraceful conduct against him dropped, a military spokesman said there on Thursday.
Lance Corporal Darren Larkin, one of three Royal Fusiliers on trial at a court martial in a barracks in Osnabrueck, western Germany, had faced the charge for allegedly "forcing two unknown males to undress in front of others".
Larkin, 30, and two other soldiers face charges ranging from assault to forcing detainees to simulate sexual acts.
Their alleged acts were captured on camera by five servicemen in photographs described by British Prime Minister Tony Blair as shocking and appalling.
They came during so-called Operation Ali Baba, a mission set up at a food depot near Basra, southern Iraq, in May 2003 to try to stop looters stealing humanitarian aid stored there.
02/03/2005 14:23 GMT - AFP