WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – A marine corporal has apologised in a newspaper interview published Wednesday for singing a song glorifying the killing of Iraqi civilians on a video posted on the internet.

Joshua Belile, 23, who lives in North Carolina after serving in Iraq, told the Jacksonville Daily News that the expletive-laced song was meant to be humorous.

“It’s a song that I made up and it was nothing more than something supposed to be funny, based off a catchy line of a movie,” Belile said. The line was from the puppet film Team America: World Police.

“I apologise for any feelings that may have been hurt in the muslim community. This song was written in good humour and not aimed at any party, foreign or domestic,” he said.

The four-minute video titled Hadji Girl shows Belile playing an acoustic guitar on stage, wearing an olive green T-shirt with camouflage pants. The public can be heard laughing but is not seen.

“I grabbed her little sister and put her in front of me. As the bullets began to fly, the blood sprayed from between her eyes, and then I laughed maniacally,” Belile sang.

“I blew those little f–kers to eternity. … They should have known they were f–king with the marines.”

The video was removed from the internet video website youtube.com, where it was originally posted.

Major Shawn Haney, a Marine spokeswoman, said in a statement Wednesday that the Marine Corps was looking into the matter.