By Kim Sengupta, Defence Correspondent
Saturday, 9 May 2009, AP
Relatives of a 14-year-old Iraqi schoolgirl who was raped and murdered by a US soldier yesterday called for her killer to be executed after a Kentucky court found him guilty of the crimes.
Private Steven Green, now 24, was the ringleader of one of the most shocking atrocities committed by US forces following the 2003 invasion. The crime sparked a wave of protests by the Iraqi public, brought angry condemnation from the government, and aggravated tensions between Baghdad and Washington.
A group of soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division plotted the raid, at Green's instigation, over a game of cards and a session drinking whiskey. They donned black "ninja" outfits in an attempt to hide their identities and then broke into the family home of Abeer Qassim al-Janabi in Mahmudiya, 20 miles south of Baghdad.
The private, who was 19 at the time of the attack, shot Abeer's father, mother and six-year-old sister to eliminate witnesses, while two colleagues raped the girl in an adjoining room. According to his accomplices, Green then joined them and said with a laugh: "I have shot them all, they are all dead".
He went on to take his turn raping the schoolgirl before covering her face with a pillow and shooting her three times. The soldiers started to leave but paused to consider the corpse and after a discussion, decided to douse Abeer's body with kerosene and set it alight. The men then went back to base and celebrated with a barbecue.
Before the investigation began into the multiple killings. Green was "honourably discharged" from the army, having been diagnosed with a personality disorder. He was the first ex-soldier to be charged under a US law that allows prosecution for crimes committed overseas.
After more than 10 hours of deliberations, a Kentucky jury on Thursday found Green, who hails from Midland, Texas, guilty on 16 charges including rape, premeditated murder and obstruction of justice. The jurors will reconvene on Monday to decide the penalty for his crimes. Yesterday relations of the murdered Iraqi family said they would only be satisfied that justice had been done if Green was given a death sentence and it was carried out.
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