DENVER – The Army said Thursday it would drop a murder charge against a soldier accused in the death of an Iraqi general in exchange for his testimony in the court-martial of another soldier charged in the case.
Chief Warrant Officer Jefferson Williams will face administrative discipline instead of criminal charges in the 2003 suffocation of Maj. Gen. Abed Hamed Mowhoush, Army spokeswoman Dee McNutt said.
Williams agreed to testify Monday in the case of Chief Warrant Officer Lewis Welshofer Jr., who is charged with murder, McNutt said.
Williams' attorney, William Cassara, said the Army never accused his client of killing Mowhoush but alleged he failed to intervene when it became obvious Mowhoush's life was threatened.
Mowhoush was allegedly killed with an electrical cord during an interrogation, and a Pentagon investigation reportedly says a soldier sat on Mowhoush as he was restrained headfirst inside a sleeping bag.
Williams could face home arrest, suspension, demotion or loss of pay, but will not be expelled from the military, his attorney said.
Welshofer's attorney, Frank Spinner, did not immediately return a call.
The Washington Post reported in August that documents it examined said Mowhoush had been severely beaten by a paramilitary Iraqi group sponsored by the CIA two days before he was suffocated.
A CIA spokeswoman refused to comment and declined to give her name.
Williams and Welshofer were both assigned to the 3rd Armored Cavalry, deployed to Iraq from Fort Carson, at the time of Mowhoush's death.
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