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Demonstrators
demanded the two U.S. soldiers be tried in a SKorean rather than
in a U.S. court
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CAMP
CASEY, South Korea, November 18 (News Agencies) - Protesters burned an
effigy of U.S. President George W. Bush and scuffled with police
Monday, November 17, as the trial began of U.S. soldiers accused of
murdering two South Korean girls.
Anti-U.S.
sentiment has mounted here since a U.S. military vehicle crushed the
two 14-year-old school girls to death during a field drill five months
ago.
Around
100 protesters rallied in front of Camp Casey, a U.S. military base in
Uijeongbu north of Seoul, as the U.S. military court opened for two
U.S. soldiers who were in charge of the vehicle involved in the
deaths, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
The
demonstrators demanded that Sergeants Mark Walker and Fernando Nino
should be handed over to South Korean justice rather than tried in a
U.S. court.
They
torched a large Bush effigy wrapped in the U.S. flag and hurled
hundreds of eggs at the barricaded U.S. camp in a display of anger
over the June 13 murder.
Tempers
flared at one point and some protesters kicked and punched riot police
carrying shields and wearing helmets. But no arrests were made, said
AFP.
For
safety reasons, only a small number of South Koreans, including
officials and victims' families, were allowed in to attend the opening
session of the court martial.
The
two U.S. soldiers are accused of negligent homicide and could face up
to six years in prison if found guilty.
Since
the incident, South Korean civic activists have staged protest
demonstrations before U.S. military bases in Seoul and other areas
nationwide nearly every day.
Some
37,000 American troops are stationed in South Korea under a mutual
defense treaty.
