US Army Master Sgt. John Hatley was convicted of murder and conspiracy in court-martial proceedings April 15 for the killing of four unarmed Iraqi prisoners in 2007 and sentenced to life with the possibility of parole. Hatley was acquitted of obstruction of justice and also of murder for the separate death of a seriously wounded detainee in early January 2007. Hatley, along with Sgt. Michael Leahy, Jr. and Sgt. 1st Class John Mayo, was charged in September with premeditated murder, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice. He had requested six more months to complete his 20 years of service in the armed forces, but was denied.

US Army Sgt. John Hatley entered a plea of not guilty to murder charges at his court-martial April 13 for the killing of four unarmed Iraqi prisoners in 2007. Hatley, along with Sgt. Michael Leahy, Jr. and Sgt. 1st Class John Mayo, was charged in September with premeditated murder, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice. Hatley also faces murder charges for a separate killing of a prisoner during early January 2007. The trial opened at a US military base in Germany, with a verdict expected later this week. If convicted, Hatley could face life in prison.

An appeals court in Baghdad April 7 reduced the sentence for the Iraqi journalist accused of throwing his shoe at former US president George W. Bush from three years to one year. Lawyers for Muntadar al-Zaidi based their appeal on an Iraqi law that provides a maximum two-year sentence for the public insult of a foreign head of state. This appeal followed last month's sentencing by the Central Criminal Court of Iraq (CCCI) on charges of assault, which carries with it a longer sentence than insult. The court's decision to reduce the sentence was based in part on the fact that al-Zaidi had no prior criminal record.

A jury of US Marines acquitted Sgt. Ryan Weemer April 9 of one count of murder and one count of dereliction of duty for his involvement in the shooting death of a detained Iraqi insurgent during a Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNF-Iraq) November 2004 offensive in Fallujah. Weemer's defense lawyers argued that he acted in self-defense. The jury deliberated for more than four hours before reaching their verdict. Weemer would have faced life in prison, had he been convicted of murder.

From the Iraq Freedom Congress (IFC), March 17:

Under the slogan of "A Better World Can be Made by Workers," the First International Iraqi Labour Conference was held in Erbil in the Kurdish Region of Iraq on 13 and 14 of March. The event drew more than 200 delegates from unions and federations across Iraq and solidarity delegations from the US, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Japan, Australia, and Iran.

President Barack Obama says he won't consider speeding up the troop pullout from Iraq despite supposed improvements in security. "I think the plan that we put forward in Iraq is the right one," he told CBS TV's "Face the Nation," calling for "a very gradual withdrawal through the national elections in Iraq."

A US Army sergeant was convicted March 30 and sentenced to 35 years in prison for killing four unarmed Iraqi prisoners in 2007. Sgt. First Class Joseph Mayo, formerly of the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry and two other soldiers were charged in September with shooting the four bound and blindfolded prisoners and disposing of their bodies in a canal.

A suicide bomber blew himself up at a funeral for the father of a Kurdish regional government official in northern Iraq's Diyala province March 23, killing 25 people and wounding 45. The bombing in the town of Jalawla underscores the dangers Iraq still faces from militants, even as overall violence falls to levels not seen since mid-2003 and the US prepares to withdraw combat troops by Aug 31, 2010. Jalawla is a mostly Kurdish town, and the Kurdish regional government in a dispute with Iraq's central government over who should control the area.