LONDON, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Military police are investigating 48 British servicemen, including a Special Air Service member, over fresh allegations of murdering and assaulting Iraqis.
The SAS soldier could face murder charges after shooting an Iraqi to death during an operation in Basra in January 2004, defense sources told the Guardian newspaper.
If military police decide there is sufficient evidence to prosecute, the soldier could face a criminal trial in a civilian court rather than a court martial.
The disclosures follow the Friday announcement by Army chief General Mike Jackson of a full inquiry into allegations of abuse by British troops in Iraq.
Jackson was speaking after the sentencing of three soldiers for the abuse of Iraqi detainees at a court martial in Germany.
Details of the new investigations are contained in documents leaked at the weekend to the Telegraph newspaper.
The Iraqi civilian in the SAS case was named as Ghanim Gatteh al-Roomi, who was shot and killed on Jan. 1 last year.
The documents also detail two cases of alleged drowning of Iraqi civilians by British troops; one involves the alleged murder of 16-year-old Ahmed Jabber Kareem in May 2003.
