Marine sacked for Iraq death

A US marine officer has been thrown out of the service after a court martial convicted him of dereliction of duty and maltreatment of an Iraqi who died at the prison he commanded.

Major Clarke Paulus, aged 36, was acquitted of assault and battery.

During sentencing at Camp Pendleton, California, Paulus apologised to the Marine Corps and his family.

He said: “I hope the press would have these charges reflect on me personally and not the Marine Corps.”

Prosecutor Major Leon Francis told the jury the suffering of Nagem Sadoon Hatab “should amount to something”.

Paulus was accused of ordering a subordinate to drag Hatab out of a cell after the man suffered a bout of diarrhoea at a detention facility at Camp Whitehorse in southern Iraq. Hatab was stripped naked and left outside for seven hours before he was found dead.