[JURIST] The US Marine Corps [official website] said Monday that it will launch an investigation into the leak of a Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) [official website] report on the killing of Iraqi civilians in Haditha [USMC timeline; JURIST news archive] after the Washington Post earlier this month printed photos of the slain Iraqis [WP report]. Lt. Gen. James Mattis [official profile], the top general at Camp Pendleton [official website], ordered the investigation on January 23 after attorneys for charged Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich [Wikipedia profile] asked for a probe into the leak [JURIST report].

A total of eight Marines have been charged [list of charges and specifications; JURIST report] in connection with the deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha [JURIST report], including women and children, last November. The Haditha investigation marks the largest US criminal case for civilian deaths during the war in Iraq. Wuterich said last year that his unit followed the rules of engagement [JURIST report] and did not purposefully attack civilians. AP has more.