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FORT KNOX, Ky. (AP) -- An investigating officer Friday recommended the court-martial of a soldier charged in the deadly grenade attack on sleeping 101st Airborne comrades in Kuwait.
Evidence shows Sgt. Hasan Akbar had ample time to acquire the grenades used in the attack and that Akbar's rifle killed one of the two officers who died, said Col. Patrick Reinert at an Article 32 hearing.
"There are reasonable grounds to believe the accused committed the offensive charges," Reinert said. "This was a surprise attack executed by stealth."
The March 23 attack killed two officers and wounded 14 others days before the 1st Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division was to move into Iraq.
Reinert's recommendation will go to Abkar's battalion commander, Lt. Col. Peter DeLuca of the 326th Engineer Battalion.
DeLuca will next make a decision how the case will proceed and has the option to dismiss the case. If he recommends a court-martial, it would have to be ordered by Maj. Gen. David Petraeus, commanding general of the 101st.
Maj. Trey Cate, 101st spokesman, said he does not know when DeLuca -- who is in Iraq -- would make a decision.
Akbar's attorney said in closing arguments Friday morning that no eyewitnesses placed the soldier at the scene, and that soldiers on the ground unduly assumed he committed the crime because he is Muslim.
"Nobody, not one witness, can say they saw Sgt. Akbar throw a grenade or fire a weapon," Lt. Col. Victor Hansen argued.
Capt. Harper Cook, an attorney for the prosecution, said Akbar stole four fragmentation grenades and three incendiary grenades from a Humvee he was guarding, then an hour later walked to the brigade operations area to conduct the attack on three tents.
"He selected the weapons, he pulled the pins, he threw the grenades and he shot Maj. (Kenneth) Romaine with his rifle," Cook said. Romaine was wounded in both hands and his left thigh by a gunshot in the attack, he testified.
Cook said evidence shows Akbar's weapon was used to kill Capt. Army Capt. Christopher Scott Seifert, 27, of Easton, Pa. Seifert and Air Force Maj. Gregory Stone, 40, of Boise, Idaho, were killed.
Cook also said Akbar was injured in the leg during the attack, but chose not to seek treatment because he wanted to blend in with other soldiers.
Akbar, 32, chose not to testify in his own defense. He could face the death penalty if convicted at a court-martial.
It is the first time since the Vietnam War that a U.S. Army soldier has been prosecuted for the murder or attempted murder of another soldier during a period of war, the Army said.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
