Relatives of an Iraqi girl who was raped and killed along with her family by a U.S. soldier urged that he be given the death penalty today, Reuters reported. Private 1st Class Steven Green was convicted in a Kentucky court on Thursday of raping Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi, 14, and killing her and her family in Mahmudiya, 30 km (20 miles) south of Baghdad, in 2006. He faces a possible death sentence. Green, 24, was tried in federal court as a civilian for murder, rape and obstruction of justice charges since he was arrested after he was discharged from the U.S. Army later in 2006 for a "personality disorder." "By all measures, this was a very criminal act. We are just waiting for the court to sentence him so he gets justice and the court can change the image of Americans," said Karim Janabi, 45, the girl's uncle. Speaking from a small farm where he grows vegetables, Janabi said he was pleased with the verdict but that he could not get over losing Abeer. "Some people, when they die, I forget them. But we will never forget this girl -- never," Janabi said, wearing a traditional white Arab robe, his eyes downcast. The trial featured prosecution testimony by Green's former comrades in which they detailed the assault, one of several incidents involving American soldiers that enraged Iraqis. Green, from Texas, 19 at the time of the crime, was described as the trigger-man in the group of five men, who donned black "ninja" outfits and raped Abeer then shot dead her and her father, mother and 6-year-old sister.
