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(Fort Campbell, Kentucky-AP) -- A soldier accused of killing two U-S Army officers in a grenade attack in Kuwait will now face a court-martial that could bring him the death penalty.
The commanding general of the 101st Airborne Division is following the recommendation made by an investigating officer after a hearing last month.
Sergeant Hasan Akbar is charged with two counts of premeditated murder and three counts of attempted murder.
The case is being transferred from the 101st Airborne, based at Fort Campbell in Kentucky, to the commander of the 18th Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. That's because the 101st is still conducting operations in Iraq.
At last month's hearing, investigators said a leg injury suffered by Akbar linked him to the attack scene.
But Akbar's attorney argued that no eyewitnesses placed him at the scene. And he said other soldiers assumed Akbar committed the crime because he is Muslim.
It's the first time since the Vietnam War that a U-S soldier has been prosecuted for the murder or attempted murder of another soldier during war.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
