THE Iraqi Prime Minister has vowed to investigate the alleged massacre of Iraqi civilians by US Marines in al-Haditha.

Nouri al-Maliki said there was a “limit to the acceptable excuses”: “Yes a mistake may happen, but there is an acceptable limit to mistakes. We will ask for answers not only about Haditha but about any operation in which killing happened by mistake and we will hold those who did it responsible.”

Meanwhile, the parents of two US Marines said that their sons were left traumatised after being ordered to clean up after the alleged massacre. Lance Corporal Andrew Wright, 20, and Lance Corporal Roel Ryan Briones, 21, were members of a Marine unit accused of going on a killing spree in al-Haditha on November 19, 2005. At least two dozen unarmed civilians are said to have been killed.

Susan Briones said her son, who had not taken part in the killings, was sent to remove the bodies of the victims from their homes. She said that her son saw 23 dead Iraqis.

“He had to carry a little girl’s body,” she said. “Her head was blown off and her brain splattered on his boots.”

She said that he was ordered to photograph the scene with a personal camera, which was confiscated by investigators. He was interrogated twice.

The incident has sparked two investigations — one into the deadly encounter and another into whether it was covered up. The killings occurred after a roadside bomb near al-Haditha killed a member of the unit, the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division.

Twelve Marines are under investigation and three or four are thought to have done the killing. They are expected to face charges next month in what would be the worst case of criminal misconduct by US troops since the invasion.

John Kline, a Republican congressman, said there was “no doubt” that there had been an attempted cover-up.

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