US army sergeant accused of killing comrades

The US government has charged a US Army staff sergeant with murder in connection with the deaths of two US Army officers at a base north of Baghdad, the military said today.

It said in an announcement that Staff Sergeant Alberto Martinez, 37, a supply specialist with the Headquarters and Headquarters Company of the 42nd Infantry Division, was charged yesterday in connection with the June 7 deaths of the two officers at Forward Operating Base Danger, near Tikrit – Saddam Hussein’s hometown 80 miles north of Baghdad.