July 3 (Bloomberg) -- A former U.S. soldier was arrested on charges of killing four Iraqi civilians and raping one of the victims.

Steven D. Green, 21, was arrested June 30 in Asheville, North Carolina, the U.S. said. Green appeared in federal court today in Charlotte, North Carolina, and is expected to be sent to Kentucky for additional proceedings, David Huber, U.S. attorney in Louisville, Kentucky, said in a statement.

Green, who served with the Army's 101st Airborne Division, was stationed in Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, and had been discharged.

The charges allege that Green and three unnamed individuals went to a house near Mahmoudiayh, Iraq, on March 12 intending to rape a woman living there. Green shot and killed a man, a woman and a girl before raping and killing the other woman, according to the charges.

Green is subject to civilian prosecution under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, which allows crimes committed in foreign countries by members of the military to be prosecuted as if they had been committed within the United States, the government said.

If convicted, Green could face the death penalty for murder and life in prison for rape.

The U.S. military is also conducting a criminal investigation into whether Marines killed 24 unarmed Iraqis on Nov. 19 in the town of Haditha, west of Baghdad.

To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Schmidt in Washington at rschmidt5@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 3, 2006 13:10 EDT