A leading US lawmaker and media reports have said the US Marines tried to cover up the killings of at least 24 civilians in the town after a US marine was killed on November 19.

White House spokesman Tony Snow said the US Marine Corps was taking an "active and aggressive role" in investigating the allegations made against them.

The US military is conducting a criminal investigation into the killings of Iraqi civilians by a Marines unit in Haditha, and a second one into whether an attempt was made to cover-up the deaths.

The White House spokesman said that President George W. Bush was concerned by the allegations. But Snow added that the president was only briefed about the killings, by national security advisor Stephen Hadley, after a Time magazine report about Haditha in March.

"I think anybody who's heard the story has a personal interest and it's impossible not to," Snow told a briefing.

"But the president also is allowing the chain of command to do what it's supposed to do in the Department of Defence, which is to complete an investigation.

"The marines are taking an active and aggressive role in this. And I have been told and was assured earlier today when I called about it that when this comes out, all the details will be made available to the public."

Representative John Murtha, a Democrat and harsh critic of the Iraq war, has accused the marines of seeking to "cover up" the killings. He has warned that the scandal could become more damaging for the United States than the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse images which caused international controversy in 2004.

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