The pre-trial hearing of an American military officer on charges of murdering an Iraqi detainee was interrupted soon after it began on Sunday, a US military spokeswoman said.
First Lieutenant Michael Behenna 25, has been charged with the premeditated murder of Ali Mansur Mohammed, as well as with assault, making a false official statement and obstruction of justice.
His hearing began on Sunday at a US military base near Tikrit, the hometown of executed dictator Saddam Hussein. But minutes after the hearing began it was interrupted, spokeswoman Major Peggy Kageleiry told AFP.
"The defence put forth a motion first thing this morning to have the investigating officer (IO) replaced," she said, referring to the presiding military judge at the hearing.
Kageleiry said no evidence had yet been presented against Behenna, and if the investigating officer is replaced then it would be days before the hearing resumes. Behenna has been charged along with Staff Sergeant Hal Warner, 34, whose hearings were completed last week, after which military prosecutors called for him to face a court martial.
According to the charges against the two men, Mohammed was first shot dead and then his face was badly burnt by an incendiary grenade. His murder was committed on May 16 under a bridge in the northern oil refinery town of Baiji, after the two soldiers left their base with Mohammed to set him free at a checkpoint, according to the charges. Mohammed was initially believed to have been freed along with another detainee at a checkpoint, but his naked and badly burnt body was found under the bridge the next day.
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