Pretrial hearing held for Iraq contractor in stabbing

BAGHDAD — The U.S. military held a pretrial hearing Tuesday for an interpreter accused of a stabbing, the first attempt to apply military law to civilian contractors working for U.S. forces in Iraq.

Alaa Mohammad Ali, who holds Iraqi and Canadian citizenship, has been charged with aggravated assault on another interpreter while working for U.S. forces at a combat outpost in the western Iraqi town of Hit.

His hearing took place in a courtroom at a U.S. base in Baghdad, with witnesses who could not be present testifying by video link, the military said in a statement.

Ali is the first contractor charged under an amendment passed by Congress in 2006 that authorizes military trials for contractors accompanying U.S. troops. He has been held by American military authorities since February.