Wednesday, May 31 2006 11:27 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New York: A military investigator had uncovered evidence as early as in February and March that contradicted repeated claims by Marines that Iraqi civilians killed in Haditha last November were victims of a roadside bomb, a leading US daily reported today (May 31, 2006).

Among the pieces of evidence that conflicted with the Marines' story were death certificates that showed all the Iraqi victims had gunshot wounds, mostly to the head and chest, the New York Times said quoting a senior military official in Iraq.

The investigation, which was led by Colonel Gregory Watt, an Army officer in Baghdad, also raised questions about whether the Marines followed established rules for identifying hostile threats when they assaulted houses near the site of a bomb attack, which killed a fellow marine, the report said.

The three-week inquiry, according to the Times, was the first official investigation into an episode first uncovered by Time magazine in January and that American military officials now say appears to have been an unprovoked attack by the Marines that killed 24 Iraqi civilians. The results of Colonel Watt's investigation, which began on February 14, have not previously been disclosed.

"There were enough inconsistencies that things didn't add up," said the senior official, who was briefed on the conclusions of Colonel Watt's preliminary investigation.