RAMADI (Iraq), July 20: An Iraqi shepherd launched a court case Sunday against top US military leaders after a US plane shelled his desert camp during the war to oust Saddam Hussein, killing 17 family members and 200 sheep.

Abud Sarhan, 71, issued lawsuits against US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Tommy Franks, the retired general who led US and British forces into Iraq, over the fatal April 4 bombing.

The shepherd expressed hope that “the law runs its course and that the pilot who bombed the tent is (also) brought to justice and punished,” adding that he expected compensation for his damages.

“I would have liked to die with them,” said the tearful shepherd, surrounded by a large number of friends dressed in traditional dishdashas.

Sarhan told the court he had left his house in Al-Altach, a village in the Ramadi district, 100 kilometres west of Baghdad, and relocated to a desert camp on the advice of pamphlets dropped by US planes recommending them to leave the area, the site of heavy bombing because of a nearby military camp.

Judge Sami Kamel Idan set the next hearing for August 10 “to allow the coalition coordinator to inform representatives of those accused so they could be present”.—AFP