Israeli soldier guilty of prisoner abuse

JAFFA, Israel, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- An Israeli military court has found a company commander guilty of beating Palestinian detainees during interrogation, officials said Sunday.

Lt. Adam Malul, a former deputy company commander in the Israel Defense Force's Kfir Brigade, was found guilty of aggravated assault in the mistreatment of a number of Palestinian detainees by the Jaffa Military Court, Ynetnews.com reported.

The Web site said Malul's sentence would be determined later.

The judges in the military tribunal reportedly determined he had crossed a line in the interrogations and that his actions were unacceptable. He was accused of ordering Palestinian detainees to be roughly searched and hitting one prisoner in the head while soldiers in his company kicked and beat others.

Ynetnews.com reported that Malul indicated he was disappointed with the verdict, contending that the prosecutors hadn't shown there was a reliable alternative course of action that he and his soldiers could have followed during the September 2008 incident in the West Bank village of Kadum.