Rumsfeld backs Iraq marine probes
Marines and other service personnel will be given ethical training
The US defence secretary has expressed confidence in investigations by the Marine Corps into an alleged massacre of Iraqi civilians in Haditha.
Donald Rumsfeld defended US conduct and said answers would soon be found over accusations that marines carried out the November killings.
But Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki criticised coalition forces for what he described as habitual attacks against civilians.
Coalition troops are embarking on extra training in moral and ethical values.
Brig-Gen Donald Campbell, a senior commander in Iraq, said the refresher course could take as little as two hours but denied it was merely a public relations exercise.
He said it was a serious course that would help soldiers deal with many different situations, such as being fired on from mosques or schools.
Every soldier, sailor and airman would have to take it in the next 30 days, he added.
But the BBC＇s Ian Pannell in Baghdad says while the programme may assuage some critics of the coalition forces it is likely to be met with scepticism by many Iraqis.
Meanwhile the BBC has broadcast footage appearing to challenge US accounts of a second incident, in the town of Ishaqi in March.
The US military said it was investigating, amid claims that 11 civilians may have been deliberately killed by US troops.
＇High standards＇
Speaking at an Asian regional security conference in Singapore, Mr Rumsfeld said he could not comment on the investigation into the Haditha deaths or a concurrent one into the US military＇s handling of the incident.
The BBC footage from Ishaqi was cross-checked with other images
"We＇ll soon know the answer," he said, quoted by AFP news agency.
"My impression is that the Marine Corps is handling it well, and that General [George] Casey is taking an appropriate step to make sure that our forces are aware of the high standards to which they are being held."
The Iraqi government has also launched an investigation into the alleged massacre.
Mr Maliki said he would ask the US for the investigative files into the incident, which took place in November.
Violence against civilians was "common among many of the multinational forces", he added.
Many troops had "no respect for citizens, smashing civilian cars and killing on a suspicion or a hunch", he added.
Conflicting versions
His remarks came a day after the BBC released the video footage that appeared to show the aftermath of US action in Ishaqi, about 100km (60 miles) north of Baghdad.
The US authorities said they were involved in a firefight after a tip-off that an al-Qaeda supporter was visiting the house.
According to the Americans, the building collapsed under heavy fire killing four people - a suspect, two women and a child.
But a report filed by Iraqi police accused US troops of rounding up and deliberately shooting 11 people in the house, including five children and four women, before blowing up the building.
The video tape obtained by the BBC shows a number of dead adults and children at the site with what our world affairs editor John Simpson says were clearly gunshot wounds.
The pictures came from a hardline Sunni group opposed to coalition forces.
It has been cross-checked with other images taken at the time of events and is believed to be genuine.
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