U.S. sergeant sentenced to life for Iraq killings

A U.S. army sergeant has been sentenced to life imprisonment for his part in the murder of four Iraqi detainees in Baghdad, the army said on Monday. Sergeant First Class Joseph Mayo, 27, pleaded guilty to charges of "conspiracy to commit premeditated murder" at a court martial in Vilseck, Germany, and was also dishonourably discharged, the army said in a statement. The court martial took place in Germany, where his unit is based and where the United States has one of its largest military logistics and transport centres outside its territory. In his plea, Mayo agreed to testify at the forthcoming trial of Master Sergeant John Hatley, another U.S. soldier identified by witnesses as having taken part in the killing of the unarmed prisoners, found handcuffed, blindfolded and shot dead near a Baghdad canal in 2007. Three soldiers have already been convicted of crimes linked to the incident.