Charges will no longer be pursued against a company of US Marines who were removed from Afghanistan on suspicion of killing the country's civilians, a lawyer involved in the case said on Friday.

Defense Attorney Mark Waple said that the case was being referred to a court of inquiry, which would limit itself to examining the actions of three Marine officers, according to the Washington Times.

The court of inquiry, the Navy's highest-level administrative investigatory body, is rarely convened and "is not a criminal proceeding," said a spokesman for the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Central Command.

The Afghan government and Afghan human rights groups accused the Marines of firing indiscriminately at civilians on March 4 2007, killing about 10 Afghans and wounding more than 30 others.

(Xinhua News Agency October 13, 2007)