U.S. troops face arrest for Spanish journalist's death in Iraq

Madrid, Jul 29 (EFE).- A judge here issued arrest warrants Thursday for three U.S. soldiers in connection with 2003 death in Baghdad of Spanish television cameraman Jose Couso.

The decision to seek the troops' detention and extradition to Spain was made by Judge Santiago Pedraz, who indicted U.S. Army Sgt. Thomas Gibson, Capt. Philip Wolford and Lt. Col. Philip de Camps on two previous occasions only to see the charges quashed by his colleagues on the National Court.

Couso, who worked for the Telecinco network, died on April 8, 2003, when a U.S. Army tank fired on Baghdad's Palestine Hotel, the base of operations for most of the international press covering the invasion of Iraq.

Killed along with Couso was Reuters cameraman Taras Protsyuk, a Ukrainian citizen.

Pedraz issued the arrest warrants just weeks after Spain's Supreme Court reinstated the case, overturning a July 2009 ruling by the National Court that shelved the prosecution.

It was the second time the Supreme Court ruled in favor of motions filed by Couso's family aimed at forcing the Spanish judiciary to pursue the investigation.

The original probe, led by Pedraz, resulted in the indictments of the soldiers in 2007 on charges that included premeditated murder.

Those charges were quashed by the National Court a year later.

Pedraz, however, subsequently reopened the case and took sworn statements from Spain's former ministers of defense, Federico Trillo, and foreign affairs, Ana Palacio, that ultimately formed the basis of a decision to re-indict the Americans in May 2009.

Two months later, the National Court again halted the case, at the urging of the Spanish Attorney General's Office.

In its second decision reviving the case, the Supreme Court said that those involved in the Pentagon's strategy of "shock and awe" in Iraq can be held criminally liable for harm to civilians who were entitled to protection under the laws of war.

Pedraz has sought authorization to travel to Iraq in the fall to inspect the scene of the killing.

The U.S. Army said soldiers thought the people they saw on the roof of the Palestine Hotel were acting as spotters for Iraqis firing on advancing American troops. Organizations representing journalists point out that U.S. commanders were aware of the presence of reporters at the hotel.