TWO US marines charged with murdering an Iraqi civilian appeared today at preliminary hearings before a military tribunal at a Marines Corps base in southern California.

Corporal Marshall Magincalda, 23, and Private First Class John Jokda, 20, are charged with killing Hashim Ibrahim Awad on April 26 in Hamdania, north of Baghdad, then altering the crime scene to make it appear the victim was an insurgent ready to plant a bomb.

The two separate hearings at the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton were focused on a review of the prosecution and defence evidence to determine whether the suspects should be court-martialled.

A civilian defence lawyer for Jodka, Jane Siegel, requested the prosecution's evidence be kept confidential during this preparatory phase, saying some of the statements were "very inflammatory".

"When the cat is out with the bag, and the bell is rung, there's no way to get evidence out of a juror's head. To openly discuss the contents of the statements will completely pollute a local and national pool" of prospective jurors, she said.

But the presiding officer, Colonel Paul Pugliese, decided all the evidence would be presented in the preliminary hearings.

Sixteen pieces of evidence are expected to be presented, including testimony from Iraqis and US military investigators.

Colonel Pugliese said he would try to prevent the names of the Iraqi witnesses being divulged at the hearing, for security reasons.

The hearing for Magincalda lasted about 15 minutes. His defence exercised its right not to present evidence, while the prosecutor submitted documents written by Colonel Robert Chester.

A total of eight troops - seven marines and one member of the US Navy - were charged on June 21 for the incident in Hamdania, notably for kidnapping, murder and criminal association.

All are detained in the prison at Camp Pendleton, the biggest US Marines base in the world, 130km south-east of Los Angeles.

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