Afghanistan massacre suspect to meet with lawyers

A lawyer representing the U.S. soldier implicated in the massacre of 16 villagers inAfghanistan said on Saturday he and other members of the defense team would spend several days with him in the week ahead.U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales is in solitary confinement at a military detention center at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where he arrived late on Friday.Bales, 38 and a four-tour combat veteran, is suspected of walking off his base in southern Afghanistan on Sunday and gunning down the 16 civilians, including nine children and three women, in a massacre that sent American-Afghan relations into a tailspin.Bales, whose military unit is based south of Tacoma, Washington, had been held in Kuwait after he was flown out of Afghanistan on Wednesday. He has not yet been charged.Bales civilian attorney, John Henry Browne, said in a statement he was being joined in the defense effort by Emma Scanlan, also a civilian, and a military defense counsel, Major Thomas Hurley.Public reports that Sergeant Bales supervisors, family and friends describe him as a level-headed, experienced soldier are consistent with information gathered by the defense team, Brownes statement said.It is too early to determine what factors may have played into this incident and the defense team looks forward to reviewing the evidence, examining all of Sergeant Bales medical and personnel records and interviewing witnesses.An unnamed U.S. official had told The New York Times the killings were a result of a combination of stress, alcohol and domestic issues - he just snapped.But Browne has refuted that, saying on CNN that marital problems were totally bogus. He said his client had a very strong marriage and, frankly, were all taking offense at that.