Spanish judge relaunches case against US soldiers in Iraq (Roundup)

May 21, 2009, 13:14 GMT

Madrid - Spanish National Court judge Santiago Pedraz on Thursday reopened legal proceedings against three US soldiers for the death of Spanish cameraman Jose Couso during the Iraq war.

Couso was killed when a US tank fired at a Baghdad hotel where journalists were staying in April 2003.

Pedraz said there was 'reasonable evidence' of a criminal offence in the case, after receiving the written testimonies of then Spanish defence minister Federico Trillo and foreign minister Ana Palacio.

The court had earlier dropped the case on the advice of prosecutors who argued that Couso was killed in the framework of an act of war.

The suspects are Sergeant Thomas Gibson, Lieutenant Colonel Philip de Camp, and unit commander Captain Philip Wolford.

The unit fired at the hotel despite it not being a military target, Pedraz said in a court document.

The US explanation that the soldiers had acted in self-defence against a sniper was not backed by the testimonies of journalists who were at the hotel, the judge argued.

The soldiers, whom the United States has refused to extradite so far, were provisionally charged with homicide and a crime against the international community.

Couso, who worked for the television station Telecinco, and a Ukrainian cameraman for the Reuters news agency were killed in the attack.