SEATTLE (AP) — The soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan villagers is expected to be flown to a U.S. military prison as early as Friday, a senior defense official said, as the soldier's attorney spoke of the impact the fighting had on his client.
The defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of security surrounding the move, said the soldier would go the facility at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., the military's only maximum-security prison.
The suspect was moved from Afghanistan to Kuwait on Wednesday because, officials said, there was no appropriate detention facility to hold him in Afghanistan.
The Kuwaiti military said in a statement carried on the state news Friday that the U.S. military "has flown out the soldier, who was in Kuwait in transit and left the country this afternoon."
The U.S. defense official said moving the soldier does not necessarily mean a decision was imminent on announcing formal criminal charges against the suspect.