AFGHANISTAN - June 1 - Karzai Deplores Gunfire By American Soldiers.

Pres Hamid Karzai condemns the use of gunfire by US troops to suppress Afghans, an incident that sparked the worst riots in the capital since the fall of the Taliban. Also Jun 1, a top Afghan judge said foreigners could be tried for crimes committed in Afghanistan, after lawmakers here passed a nonbinding resolution calling for local prosecution of US troops responsible for the auto crash that began the incident. But the US ambassador disputed that American troops could be punished under local laws. Karzai, speaking in his native Pashto, used phrases that did not specify whether US troops had fired into a crowd that had gathered at the accident scene, or only over their heads. But he was strongly critical of their actions. "The coalition opened fire, and we strongly condemn that", Karzai said in a national radio address. "I have to say, all the time we tell them to be careful because we have one joint aim, which is the struggle against terrorism". A US military spokeswoman had no immediate comment on Karzai's brief address, which is likely to cause some friction between his US-backed government and Washington, amid growing disenchantment among Afghans over America's powerful presence in the country. The Afghan authorities and the US military are investigating the crash in which a US truck, which the military says suffered brake failure, rammed into cars at an intersection, killing as many as five people. Investigators are also looking at whether US troops fired on Afghans angered by the accident, which sparked citywide rioting. Hundreds of people rampaged through Kabul, shouting "Death to America!" In all, about 20 people died, mostly from gunshot wounds, the Afghan authorities said. AP TV footage from May 29 shows the mounted machine gun of a US Humvee firing over the heads of Afghans shortly after the accident. Many Afghans at the scene and some officials said the US troops also fired into the crowd. The US military has only confirmed that its troops used their weapons in self-defense during the incident. The deputy chief justice of Afghanistan's Supreme Court, Abdul Malik Kamawi, said Jun 1 that his interpretation of Afghan law was that a foreigner suspected of committing a crime is subject to trial in the country. The motion by Afghan lawmakers, meanwhile, cannot compel the judiciary to pursue charges against US troops, and no senior Afghan official has indicated that they desire to do so. However, the US ambassador to Afghanistan Ronald Neumann, said in an interview broadcast Jun 1 on National Public Radio that, should the joint American-Afghan investigation of the incident "reveal some wrongdoing, I'm sure the military would follow up on its own". He said the US military had not signed any pact with Afghanistan that would allow local prosecutors to try US forces in Afghan courts. "I don't want to turn lawyer without being absolutely sure of my grounds, but you really can't fight a war that way", he said.