Army Sergeant to Be Tried in Grenade Attack FORT BRAGG, N.C. — An Army sergeant convicted of murdering two officers in a grenade attack on his comrades in Kuwait quietly said he was sorry Thursday before a military prosecutor urged the jury to sentence the soldier to death because he was an ideologically driven killer.
"I apologize for my actions. ... When I did that, I felt my life was in jeopardy, and I had other problems," Sgt. Hasan Akbar (search) told the 15-person military jury.
Akbar spoke for less than a minute, making an unsworn statement that could not be cross-examined. He testified in such a low voice that even prosecutors sitting nearby had trouble hearing, with one lawyer even cupping his ear.