US military charges civilian contractor in Iraq

The US military has charged a civilian contractor in Iraq under U.S. military law for the first time.

Alaa Mohammad Ali is accused of stabbing another contractor. This is the first contractor charged under an amendment passed by Congress in 2006, which governs military trials for contractors accompanying U.S. troops.

Alaa Mohammad has been held by U.S. military since February and will face his first pre-trial hearing on April 10. And he will be given the same rights as a U.S. service member facing military court.

Since last September when contractors from the U.S. firm Blackwater where accused of killing 17 people in a shooting incident in Baghdad the legal status of contractors in Iraq has been the subject of substantial controversy.

 

FBI is still investigating whether Blackwater employees broke any laws in that incident. The Blackwater staff was employed by the State Department to guard embassy officials and it is not clear if they could be prosecuted under laws covering contractors accompanying the military, or other U.S. laws.

The State Department announced on Friday it was extending Blackwater's contract for another year.

Reuters