Special report: Tension accelerates in Iraq

Related: U.S. military ends probe of Iraq killing

    WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. marine who was under investigation in connection with killing Iraqi civilians last year filed a lawsuit Wednesday against an anti-war lawmaker, accusing the congressman of defaming him in public comments on the case.

    The suit was filed in a federal court in Washington by Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich against Representative Jack Murtha, a Democratic from Pennsylvania.

    The law suit alleged that Wuterich was defamed by Murtha, who said in May that investigators would conclude that the marines "killed innocent civilians in cold blood" at the Iraqi town of Haditha on Nov. 19 last year.

    It accused Murtha of "intentionally" disseminating with malice his hearsay version of the events "with knowledge of the false and libelous nature of the statements contained therein and/or with gross negligence or reckless disregard for the truth."

    In a statement issued on Wednesday, Murtha said he did not blame Wuterich for "lashing out."

    Murtha said when he spoke up about Haditha, his intention was to draw attention to the "horrendous pressure put on our troops in Iraq and to the cover-up of the incident."

    Lawyers for Wuterich said the suit dealt with Murtha calling them "cold blooded killers without sufficient evidence," and the plaintiff sought a retraction and an apology.

    On Nov. 19, 2005, 24 Iraqi civilians were allegedly killed by U.S. troops in Haditha, one of several incidents over the past several months in which U.S. soldiers were accused of killing Iraqi civilians.

    The U.S. military had been conducting a criminal investigations into the killings at Haditha, and a separate investigation was also underway into an apparent cover-up of the deaths. Enditem