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Baghdad: The United States military on Saturday announced it had charged a civilian contractor in Iraq under US military law for the first time.
Alaa Mohammad Ali is accused of stabbing another contractor, the military said. He is the first contractor charged under an amended military law passed in 2006.
Ali has been held by US military authorities since February and will face his first pre-trial hearing on April 10.
The legal status of contractors in Iraq has been the subject of controversy, especially after a shooting incident last September involving US security contractor Blackwater.
The FBI is investigating whether Blackwater employees broke any laws in that incident, which killed 17 civilians in Baghdad and angered the Iraqi government.
The State Department announced on Friday it was extending Blackwater's contract for another year.
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