U.S. says to publicize details of Iraq killing probe

The White House on Tuesdaypromised to publicize every detail of the investigation of thealleged killing of two dozens of Iraqi civilians by U.S. Marineslast November.White House spokesman Tony Snow told a press briefing that theinvestigation is ongoing and he was assured by the Pentagon thatall the details will be made available to the public once theprobe is completed.He said U.S. President George W. Bush first became aware of theincident when a Time magazine reporter asked about it earlier thisyear, prompting national security adviser Stephen Hadley to briefthe president on it.However, Snow refused to give Bush's personal comments on it.The bloody killing was first revealed by Time magazine in Marchand more details have been coming out in many U.S. media reportssince then.According to the reports, the killings came after a roadsidebomb rocked a U.S. military convoy and killed a Marine in thewestern Iraqi city of Haditha on Nov. 19 last year.U.S. Marines then shot and killed five unarmed civilians in ataxi at the scene and went into three homes and shot dead 19 morecivilians.The incident led to comparisons from U.S. commentators of theMarch 16, 1968, killing of over 500 unarmed civilians by U.S.troops in the Vietnamese village of My Lai.U.S. military officials said last week that murder chargescould eventually be brought against Marines for the bloodykillings at Haditha.However, they said it's still a month away before theconclusions could be made on the investigation.Xinhua