

REPORTING FROM KABUL, AFGHANISTAN -- Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said Thursday he had offered assurances to Afghanistan's president that justice would be done in the case of 16 slain Afghan civilians despite the transfer of the alleged shooter out of the South Asia nation.

The U.S. soldier suspected of killing the Afghans during a shooting rampage Sunday was taken to a American detention facility in Kuwait while the investigation continues, U.S. officials said.



The transfer was made despite calls from some Afghan officials to have the Army staff sergeant, whose name has not been released, to be tried in Afghanistan.



Traveling in Afghanistan, Panetta said he assured President Hamid Karzai during their meeting Thursday that despite the transfer "we are proceeding with a full investigation and will bring the individual to justice."