IRAQ Probe treads carefully

More soldiers are likely to be charged in the case.
TIKRIT, Iraq (AP) -- U.S. investigators have asked Iraqi authorities to help them navigate cultural sensitivities to exhume the body of a teenager allegedly raped and murdered with her family by American soldiers, a military official said Saturday.
U.S. Maj. Mark Wright said U.S. authorities are aware that Islamic tradition has strict rules governing exhumation and could require religious leaders to become involved in the investigation.
"You want to be aware of these cultural issues while at the same time making sure that the accused receives proper justice," Wright, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq, told The Associated Press.
Muslim tradition generally frowns on exhumations, considering them desecration of the remains.
However, Ahmed Taha, the uncle of the dead teen, told AP Thursday that relatives were eager to cooperate with investigators and would allow them to exhume the body of the alleged rape victim, Abeer Qassim Hamza. Her parents and sister were also slain.
The accused
Ex-soldier Steven D. Green was arrested last week in North Carolina and has pleaded innocent to one count of rape and four counts of murder.
Four soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment have been taken to a U.S. military camp in Baghdad for questioning, Wright said. He would not say if those soldiers had been arrested, but another U.S. official said Saturday that several more soldiers would soon be charged.
Based on interviews and records, the U.S. military now believes the woman who Green is accused of raping and killing was between the ages of 14 and 20, Army spokesman Paul Boyce said Friday. While the military initially said she was 20, Boyce said he has seen documents that indicate she could have been about 14.
Wright said officials are also considering whether certain parts of a standard Western autopsy would be taboo in Iraq and if a religious leader or family members should be present to ensure cultural barriers are not crossed.
He said U.S. military commanders in Iraq are working with the family's relatives to expedite the investigation, but that it was not immediately clear whether Iraqis or Americans would have custody of the woman's remains.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has demanded an independent investigation into the case, which followed a series of allegations that U.S. troops killed and mistreated Iraqi civilians.
In the chow halls and barracks, many soldiers remain convinced that the alleged rape and killings in Mahmoudiya were aberrations.
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