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MANILA, Dec. 29 (Xinhuanet) -- Two US marines who were suspected of participating in raping a Filipina in Subic Bay last month were released from US embassy in Manila after they were cleared of the charge, a local TV reported Thursday.
According to ABS-CBN News Channel, the two American servicemen, identified as Corey Burris and Albert Lara, have been confirmed by US embassy to return to their home unit in the 31st marine expeditionary unit stationed in Okinawa, Japan.
The Olongapo City Prosecutor's Office Tuesday said
that Burris and Lara provided adequate evidence to prove they were not in the
van, where the 22-year-old victim alleged to have been raped by six US marines
on Nov. 1.
However, the prosecution office has filed the charges
of raping against the other four US marines and a Filipino driver of the van
where the crime allegedly occurred.
The prosecutors expected that the accused US marines,
who are currently detained in US embassy, can be kept under custody of the
Philippine authorities after the court issues the arrest warrants.
But, Washington has yet officially responded to the
Philippines' request for transferring the custody of US marines except demanding
the "fair and impartial trial" of them in the Philippines.
The accused American soldiers were among the 4,000 US
troops who took part in the Philippine-US military exercise in Central Luzon in
November.
This is the first reported rape incident since the
Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) was signed in 1998 and entered into force in
1999 after the Philippine Senate ratified the agreement as a treaty.
Under the VFA with the Philippines, the US will
retain custody of its service members accused of wrongdoing unless the
Philippine government requests otherwise.
Even then, the US government can refuse such a
request -- a provision that some Philippine lawmakers have criticized as
infringing on national sovereignty. Enditem
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