US Marines may have destroyed evidence

US MARINES being investigated over the killings of two dozen Iraqis last autumn in Haditha, most if not all of them civilians, appear to have destroyed or withheld evidence, the New York Times newspaper reported yesterday.

Pages from an official company logbook of the unit involved in the deaths were missing, and an incriminating video taken by an aerial drone was not given to investigators until a top commander asked for it, two US Defence Department officials told the newspaper.

The Pentagon officials said a report about the Haditha killings does not directly accuse marines of attempting a cover-up, the newspaper added. The report, based on an investigation by Army Maj Gen Eldon A Bargewell, has not been made public.