2 Fleeing Iraqi POWs Are Shot

WASHINGTON — Two Iraqi prisoners trying to escape from a U.S. camp were shot Thursday, and one later died of his wounds, the military said. U.S. Central Command released few details, other than to say one prisoner died at an Iraqi hospital and the other was recaptured.

The dead prisoner was the third of thousands of Iraqis held by the Americans to die in custody. American military officials ruled that a Marine acted in self-defense in killing a prisoner on March 29. The Pentagon has launched a criminal investigation into the death of an inmate in Nasiriyah whose corpse was found Friday.

The United States has more than 2,000 Iraqis in custody.