美国调查“令人不安”的伊拉克境内照片

The U.S. Defense Department says photos that purportedly show Marines burning bodies of what appear to be dead Iraqi insurgents are "disturbing."

A Pentagon spokesman, Rear Admiral John Kirby, said Thursday that officials must let a Marine-led probe into the photos take its course before determining their authenticity.

The U.S. Marine Corps launched its investigation on Wednesday, several days after the photos were turned over to the Pentagon by the entertainment website TMZ.com.

TMZ, which posted eight of the photos, says it was told they were taken in the western Iraqi city of Fallujah, the scene of fierce fighting between U.S. forces and insurgents 10 years ago.

In the photos, a person in what looks like a Marine uniform appears to be pouring a flammable liquid on dead insurgents.  Other photos show the bodies on fire.

U.S. defense officials say the images do not appear to constitute war crimes.  But they say the Marines possibly violated military rules that prohibit the mishandling of remains and inappropriate photos on the battlefield.

五角大楼发言人柯比星期四说，有关官员必须让海军陆战队牵头对这些照片进行调查，然后才能确定照片的真实性。

美国海军陆战队星期三展开调查。几天前，娱乐网站TMZ.com将这些照片送交五角大楼。

TMZ网站登出了其中八张照片，并声称该网站被告知，这些照片是在伊拉克西部城市费卢杰拍摄的。10年前，美国军队曾与叛乱分子在费卢杰激战。

在照片中，一名看来身穿美国海军陆战队军装的人向叛乱分子尸体上浇易燃的液体。其他照片显示尸体在燃烧。

美国国防部官员说，这些画面看来并不构成战争罪行。但他们表示，海军陆战队员们可能违反了禁止粗暴对待尸体以及在战场进行不当拍照的军纪。