RALEIGH, N.C., April 29 (UPI) -- A U.S. military court has sentenced Army Sgt. Hasan Akbar to death for intentionally murdering two fellow soldiers and wounding 14 others. Akbar, who was a member of the 101st Airborne Division, turned off a generator to kill lights at a Kuwait camp, then rolled grenades into three tents on March 23, 2003, before opening fire with his rifle, the Raleigh News & Observer reported Friday. His death sentence will be automatically appealed and President Bush ultimately must approve his execution. Meanwhile, Akbar will be put on death row at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas.
His lawyers said as his platoon's sole black and only Muslim he was tormented directly, and indirectly he was tormented by fears his comrades were preparing to rape Muslim women as they made ready to enter Iraq. Experts in military law say Akbar's execution is unlikely. The military's last execution was in 1961 and no president since has signed a warrant to put a soldier to death. |