BAGHDAD, June 30 (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Saturday it had charged two U.S. Army soldiers with the "premeditated murder" of three Iraqis.

The alleged killings took place in separate incidents in the religiously mixed town of Iskandariya, south of Baghdad, between April and June 2007, the U.S. military said in a statement.

Staff Sergeant Michael Hensley was charged with three counts of premeditated murder, obstruction of justice and of wrongfully placing weapons beside the dead bodies in an apparent attempt to cover up the crimes.

Specialist Jorge Sandoval was charged with one count of premeditated murder and with putting a weapon by the body.

Both soldiers are from the 1st Battalion, 501 Infantry Regiment based at Fort Richardson in Alaska. They are being held in Kuwait pending trial, the military said.

[URL="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070630/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq"]