Iraq: Spanish judge accuses US of 'null cooperation' - issues warrant

typicallyspanish: Spain's National Court, and judge Santiago Pedraz, has today issued an International Detention Order against the three United States soldiers whom it considers allegedly responsible for the death of the Tele5 cameraman, Jose Couso, when a United States tank opened fire on the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad, in April 2003, where all the international journalists are being held. The judge said he had taken the decision in the light of what he called the 'null cooperation on the part of the United States'. The soldiers concerned are Sergeant Thomas Gibson, Capitan Philip Wolford, and Lieutenant Colonel Philip de Camp. It was Gibson who has admitted opening fire on the hotel from his tank, [db emphasis] after seeing someone using binoculars from the hotel. In declarations broadcast a month after the attack, he said that he did not open fire immediately, but had called his superiors and told them what he had seen. 'Ten minutes later they told me to open fire, and I did', he said
In practice the United States is not in the habit of extraditing any of its citizens, and does not have an extradition treaty with Spain in any case, but the order does mean that should any of the three men leave the country they risk arrest and being sent to Spain for trial.
Javier Couso, brother of the dead Spanish cameraman said this afternoon that he was 'absolutely happy' with the court's decision. Link