OLONGAPO CITY, Philippines: Philippine prosecutors charged four US Marines yesterday with raping a 22-year-old Filipino woman in early November but cleared two other soldiers who had also been accused.

Washington has not responded publicly to an earlier request by the Philippine foreign affairs department to transfer custody of the Marines to local authorities.

A statement by the US Embassy, which has been holding the soldiers, made no mention of custody but said the United States would continue to co-operate with the Philippines on the case under the two countries' Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).

"The US remains committed to seeing that justice is served, and looks forward to a fair and impartial process that can provide for a just outcome," the statement said.

Beyond small protests, the case has caused little public outcry or anti-American sentiment in the Philippines.

In affidavits, five of the Marines had disputed allegations that the woman was gang-raped in a van at a former US Navy base at Subic Bay, suggesting there was consensual sex.

The sixth soldier, who had also taken part in two-week military exercises with Philippine troops in October, did not submit an affidavit.

The Filipino van driver, initially considered a witness, was charged as an accomplice, according to prosecution documents filed with a court in Olongapo City, northwest of Manila.

"I was convinced there was a conspiracy among the accused," the city's chief prosecutor, Prudencio Jalandoni, told reporters.

In the charge sheet, Jalandoni said evidence suggested the two cleared soldiers were not in the van at the time of the alleged rape.

He said that once arrest warrants were issued, the four US Marines and the Filipino driver would be placed in one detention facility, subject to the provisions of the VFA.

Recommending no bail be set for the accused, Jalandoni said he was "confident the case will be resolved before the end of the one-year period" stipulated in the VFA for the handling of criminal charges against US soldiers.

The court was expected to select a judge on January 3 to hear the case but no trial date has been set.

Source: China Daily