Spain drops US army murder case

Jose Couso's family pressed for charges through the Spanish courts

A Spanish court has thrown out murder charges against three US soldiers accused of killing a Spanish cameraman during the war in Iraq.

Jose Couso, 37, died in April 2003 after a US tank fired on a hotel used by foreign journalists in Baghdad.

Madrid's National Court dropped all charges, ruling there was "insufficient evidence" to continue with the trial.

The court ruling underlined that the case was being definitively dismissed, with no further opportunity to appeal.

US officials ignored two international arrest warrants issued for Sgt Thomas Gibson, Cpt Philip Wolford and Lt-Col Philip De Camp, in 2005 and 2007.

The men had been charged with murder and a crime against the international community. Under Spanish law, this is defined as an excessive attack against civilians during war.

Attack footage

The attack happened at Baghdad's Palestine Hotel, the base for almost all the foreign media crews in the capital during the US-led invasion of Iraq.

Mr Couso was working for Spain's Telecinco television station at the time.

Reuters cameraman Taras Portsyuk, a Ukrainian, was also killed in the blast and three other Reuters staff were injured.

The US admitted its tank crew fired at the Palestine Hotel but cleared the three soldiers of blame.

The soldiers say they thought they were being shot at when they opened fire.

Footage of the incident on the day before the fall of the regime of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein - which did not record any fire from the hotel - was witnessed around the world.

A US review of the incident ruled that the use of force by the tank was justified, but the family of Mr Couso decided to press criminal charges through the Spanish courts.