(Adds details, including Thar Thar Lake and Hamdania cases, paragraphs 2-8, 13-19) By Kristin Roberts WASHINGTON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - U.S. service members will face military trials in three separate cases for the murders of Iraqi civilians, including the gang rape and murder of a teenage girl and the killing of her family in their home in Mahmudiya, the military said on Wednesday. An Army general ordered the court-martial of four soldiers in the Mahmudiya case and said two of the four could face death if found guilty. One of the accused will testify against the others, according to his Washington attorney, David Sheldon. Army Maj. Gen. Thomas Turner also ordered military trials for four other soldiers accused of murdering three Iraqi detainees during a raid on a suspected insurgent camp near Thar Thar Lake, southwest of Tikrit. In the third case, three U.S. Marines will be tried on murder charges in the death of an Iraqi grandfather kidnapped from his house in Hamdania in the middle of the night, the U.S. Marine Corps said. Those cases, particularly the alleged Mahmudiya gang rape, as well as the killing of 24 people in Haditha, have sparked outrage among Iraqis. Mahmudiya led Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to call for a review of foreign troops' immunity from Iraqi prosecution. Haditha is still being investigated and no Marines have been charged. "I think what today's events show is the United States military is committed to investigating any allegations of this nature thoroughly and determining the facts of the matter," said Lt. Col. Mark Ballesteros, a Pentagon spokesman. "Clearly the allegations aren't representative of our department as a whole and they're not representative of the professional conduct of the vast majority of service members serving in Iraq," he said. COOPERATION ON MAHMUDIYA According to U.S. military prosecutors, former private Steven Green, who faces charges in a U.S. civilian court, shot dead 14-year-old Abeer Qasim Hamza al-Janabi's father, mother and six-year-old sister in Mahmudiya, near Baghdad, in March. Green then raped the teenager and killed her, and tried to burn the bodies and house to conceal evidence of the crime. At least two other soldiers raped or tried to rape the girl before she was murdered, prosecutors say. Pfc. Jesse Spielman and Sgt. Paul Cortez face the possibility of death if found guilty. Sheldon's client, Spc. James Barker, and Pfc. Bryan Howard do not. "Barker has agreed to cooperate in the prosecution that the military and the United States have brought against the soldiers and Mr. Green. He is deeply remorseful for what happened and will take responsibility for his actions," Sheldon said. The court-martial will be held at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, the military said. No date has been set, but Sheldon said it should occur in late November or early December. In the Thar Thar case, four soldiers are accused of premeditated murder for the May 9 killing of three detainees. The soldiers -- Staff Sgt. Raymond Girouard, Spc. William Hunsaker, Spc. Juston Graber and Pfc. Corey Clagett -- said the detainees were trying to escape when they were shot, but prosecutors say the detainees were freed before being killed. A date has not yet been set for that court-martial. It will also be held at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Separately, three Marines -- Lance Cpl. Tyler Jackson, Lance Cpl. Robert Pennington and Cpl. Trent Thomas -- will face trials on charges of murder and kidnapping stemming from the April 2006 death of Hashim Ibrahim Awad in Hamdania. Seven Marines and a Navy medic are accused of dragging the man from his home, shooting him dead and placing a rifle and shovel next to his body to create the impression that he was an insurgent planting a roadside bomb. (Additional reporting by Ibon Villelabeitia in Baghdad and Adam Tanner in San Francisco)
