Unidentified Iraqi witnesses testified behind closed door Sunday at a U.S. military court to determine if five American soldiers should be court-martialed in the alleged rape-slaying of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl. Three of the girl's relatives also were killed in the town of Mahmoudiya on March 12, which is among the worst incidents in a series of cases alleging U.S. troops killed or abused Iraqi civilians, the Associated Press reported. The hearing began Sunday with testimony by unidentified Iraqi witnesses. The soldiers _ Sgt. Paul E. Cortez, Spc. James P. Barker, Pfc. Jesse V. Spielman and Pfc. Bryan L. Howard _ are charged with conspiring to rape the girl along with former Pfc. Steven D. Green, who was arrested in North Carolina in June. Green has pleaded not guilty in federal court and is being held without bond. A fifth soldier from the same unit, Sgt. Anthony W. Yribe, is charged with failing to report the attack but is not alleged to have been a direct participant. It was not clear how many Iraqis will testify and when non-Iraqi witnesses will be called during the Article 32 hearing, the military equivalent of a grand jury proceeding. The hearing will decide whether there is enough evidence to convene a court-martial for the five soldiers. It is the fifth such investigation against U.S. soldiers in Iraq, including a group of Marines accused of killing 24 people at Haditha last November. Iraqi authorities identified the rape victim as Abeer Qassim Hamza. The other victims were her father, Qassim Hamza; her mother, Fikhriya Taha; and her sister, Hadeel Qassim Hamza.
