Sniper trial: A weeping Army soldier said yesterday at his murder trial that he can't remember firing the gun that killed an Iraqi civilian who had stumbled upon the hiding place where he and five other snipers were sleeping. Sgt. Evan Vela and several of his fellow snipers described the confused scene and their own exhaustion in the May shooting. Tears rolled down Vela's cheeks as he said in a hushed voice that he could not recall the exact moment he killed Genei Nasir al-Janabi. “I don't remember pulling the trigger. I don't remember the sound of the shot,” Vela said. “It took me a few seconds to realize that the shot came from my pistol.” The defense rested yesterday in the court-martial at Camp Victory in Baghdad. Vela is charged with murdering the civilian and planting an AK-47 automatic rifle on his body to make him look like an insurgent.
Optimistic: Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., rejected calls yesterday for the withdrawal of U.S. troops in Iraq by the end of the year, saying the decision should be based on “conditions on the ground and not on politics.” Speaking to reporters by conference call from Baghdad, Ensign said he now has “much more optimism” about the war in Iraq because of improved security after last year's increase in American troops. His comments came amid a weekend tour of Iraq with Republican Sens. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Jim DeMint of South Carolina. The contingent met yesterday with top Iraqi leaders, as well as with Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq.
Freed: Iraqi police released four detainees yesterday who were arrested Friday after questioning them. While eyewitnesses said gunmen kidnapped four Christians in Basra, security forces clarified the matter, saying “We arrested four men, one Christian and three Muslims who work for the Church of Norway and were suspected of performing missionary activities.”
Bodies found: Iraqi police found four unidentified dead bodies yesterday in Baghdad.
