* Aid worker killed by grenade thrown by U.S. rescuer
* U.S. rescuers disciplined over reporting of what happened
(Adds quote in third paragraph, details, background)
LONDON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - A grenade thrown by a U.S. soldier killed a British hostage in Afghanistan during a rescue attempt, and members of the rescue team have been disciplined, Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Thursday.
Aid worker Linda Norgrove, 36, was abducted in September along with three Afghan co-workers while visiting a remote part of Kunar province, a lawless region bordering Pakistan. Her captors were believed to be a group allied to local Taliban insurgents with links ultimately to al Qaeda.
Hague, speaking in parliament about a joint U.S.-UK investigation into the failed U.S.-led rescue operation, gave details of the last moments of Norgrove's life, and said members of the rescue team had been disciplined for not disclosing full details of what had happened.
"It became apparent that Linda had been taken into the gulley into which the grenade had been thrown and where her body had now been discovered," Hague said.
"The investigation team had access to the provisional post mortem results, which concluded that Linda Norgrove died as a result of penetrating fragmentation injuries to the head and chest. After the investigation it is clear that these injuries were caused by the grenade," he continued.
Initial reports indicated she had been killed by her captors. But General David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, later contacted British Prime Minister David Cameron to say this may not have been the case.
Petraeus has said it was disturbing not to have the correct facts about the rescue attempt the morning after it was conducted.
Hague said the U.S. military had taken unspecified disciplinary action over the failure to disclose what happened.
"Members of the rescue team have been disciplined for failing to provide a complete and full account of their actions in accordance with U.S. military procedure," he said.
Hague said he took full responsibility for authorising the operation. Intelligence at the time suggested she was about to be passed "up the terrorist chain of command", placing her in an even more dangerous situation, and it had been urgent to act, he added.
Norgrove's death highlights the dangers faced by foreign aid workers and journalists working in Afghanistan, where insurgents and other armed groups hold sway in many parts of the country.
This year has been the most violent in the now nine-year NATO-led campaign against Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, where Britain has more than 9,500 troops. There are about 150,000 foreign troops in the country.
U.S. and NATO leaders agreed last month to a schedule set by Afghan President Hamid Karzai for foreign forces to end combat operations in Afghanistan by 2014.
For a factbox on incidents involving foreign civilians in Afghanistan, click [ID:nSGE69O0IY] (Reporting by Mohammed Abbas: Editing by David Stamp)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
