US deserter 'fled prisoner abuse orders'

A US soldier charged with deserting his unit in Iraq walked away from the war partly to avoid orders to abuse Iraqi prisoners, a court-martial was told.

Lawyers for Staff Sgt Camilo Mejia, an infantryman with the Florida National Guard who is from Costa Rica, spent the first day of the hearing asking a military judge to allow witnesses to testify in support of Mejia’s claim that his unit was ordered to abuse Iraqi detainees.