U.S. officials apologize for Mahmudiya

BAGHDAD, July 7 (UPI) -- The U.S. ambassador and the top U.S. military commander in Iraq have apologized for the rape and murder of an Iraqi teen and the killing of her family.

Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and Gen. George W. Casey Jr. said the crime in the Iraqi town of Mahmudiya injured "the Iraqi people as a whole," The New York Times reported.

At least four U.S. soldiers are suspected in the case.

The statement by Khalilzad and Casey came after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told reporters in Baghdad he might ask the U.S. military to do away with a rule that provides immunity from Iraqi prosecution to foreign soldiers.

"I'm about to talk to the multinational forces to reach solutions that will put an end to such practices," said Maliki, referring to criminal behavior by soldiers. "Our people cannot tolerate that every day there is an ugly crime such as that in Mahmudiya."

Former U.S. soldier Steven Green pleaded not guilty Thursday in Louisville, Ky., to charges of raping and killing an Iraqi teenager and killing her family.

Three soldiers who also allegedly participated in the crimes were being held at the U.S. base near Mahmudiya in south-central Iraq.