BAGHDAD — The court-martial that cleared a U.S. Army sniper of two counts of murder sentenced him Saturday to five months in prison, reduced his rank to private and ordered his pay withheld for planting evidence in the deaths of two Iraqi civilians.
Sectarian violence, meanwhile, claimed at least 40 more lives across Iraq. Two U.S. soldiers were killed by gunfire, one in Diyala province north of Baghdad and one in a southern district of the capital.
Spc. Jorge G. Sandoval, 22, was acquitted Friday of murder charges in the April and May deaths of two unidentified men. The five-man, two-woman panel decided he was guilty of a lesser charges of placing detonation wire on one of the bodies to make it look as if the man was an insurgent.
“I feel fortunate that I have been served this sentence,” Sandoval said. “I’m grateful that I’m able to continue to be in the Army.”
The Laredo, Texas-native had faced five charges in the deaths of the two unidentified Iraqi men. In testimony, one of Sandoval’s colleagues, Sgt. Evan Vela, testified he had pulled the trigger and killed one of the men Sandoval was accused of murdering.
Vela said the sniper team was following orders when it shot the men during two separate incidents near Iskandariyah, a Sunni-dominated area, this spring. Vela and Staff Sgt. Michael Hensley will be tried separately in the case.
At the end of a three-day trip to Syria, Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi said his country would not be used as a base to launch attacks against Iran or Syria.
The Sunni vice president said he discussed security and other regional issues with Syrian President Bashar Assad on Saturday.
In response to a question about a possible U.S. military strike against Iran, the Iraqi vice president said: “Iraq does not accept that its territory be used for any aggression against any neighboring country.”
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