Iraq Looking Into Young Girl's Death

An Iraqi medics cleans the wounds of an Iraqi person, injured in mortar attack, in Baqouba, 60 kilometers (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad,Iraq, Tuesday Aug. 22, 2006, Two rounds of mortars exploded in a market Tuesday, wounding 11, police said. (Mohammed Adnan) (Mohammed Adnan - AP)

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraq has launched its own probe into the alleged rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl by American soldiers even though they face a possible U.S. court-martial in the case, an official said Tuesday.

The U.S. military, meanwhile, reported the capture of more than 100 known or suspected al-Qaida terrorists and sectarian death squad leaders, and five people were killed Tuesday in the violence sweeping the country.

The Iraqi investigation into the rape-slaying started Thursday and was expected to take one week, said chief prosecutor Adnan Mahmoud of the criminal court in Mahmoudiya, 20 miles south of Baghdad, where the March 12 assault took place.

Mahmoud is part of the investigation panel along with Mahmoudiya's mayor, police chief and the head of the town's main hospital.

He said the panel interviewed witnesses and inspected the house where Abeer Qassim al-Janabi, 14, was raped, shot dead and set on fire, allegedly by a group of U.S. soldiers who had observed her for days. Also killed in the house were her 5-year-old sister and parents.

The gruesome murders have bolstered Iraqi allegations of misconduct by American soldiers, including illegal killings, beatings and other abuse.

U.S. authorities arrested five soldiers and a former private in connection with the case. The active-duty soldiers faced a military hearing earlier this month to determine if they should be court-martialed. A decision is pending.

"We will do our best to try to get those soldiers to stand trail in an Iraqi court. If not we will try them in absentia," Mahmoud said.

He said the investigation was ordered by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has made it clear he wants the soldiers tried in an Iraqi court.

The United States is not expected to allow that but has assured al-Maliki that the case will be pursued vigorously under the American justice system and that the soldiers will be punished if convicted.

Still, the case has increased demands for changes in an agreement that exempts U.S. soldiers from prosecution in Iraqi courts.

Mahmoud said the immunity should not apply in this case.