OCEANSIDE, Calif. -- Seven Marines and a Navy corpsman -- all now behind bars at the Camp Pendleton brig -- may be charged as early as Friday in connection with the slaying of an Iraqi man in April, according to a defense attorney.

The suspects -- attached to Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment -- face charges of murder, assault, conspiracy and kidnapping stemming from the fatal shooting on April 26 in the Anbar province village of Hamandiya, west of Baghdad, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

Jeremiah J. Sullivan III, a San Diego attorney representing one of the suspects, said in remarks reported in the Union-Tribune that charges had already been drafted and could be filed as soon as Friday.

The Marines and corpsman allegedly dragged an Iraqi man from his home and shot him to death. They may have planted an AK-47 assault rifle and a shovel near the body so it would look like he was an insurgent burying a roadside bomb, the Union-Tribune reported.

The fact the suspects are in the brig suggests the Marine Corps fears they may try to flee. In contrast, a dozen Marines suspected in the massacre of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha on Nov. 19 are reported to be under restrictions at Camp Pendleton but are not incarcerated.

There have been no indications when charges may be filed in connection with the Haditha massacre. Investigators looking into the slayings are trying to determine whether there was a coverup.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Thursday that Iraq would conduct its own probes into cases of civilians killed by U.S.-led forces and added that his government might demand greater restraints on foreign troops as a condition of their continued service in Iraq.

In harsh terms, Al-Maliki condemned not just the Haditha killings but what he alleged was "the practice" of foreign troops disregarding the well-being of Iraqi civilians.

"The list might be long, because this has become a phenomenon among many of the multinational forces that they do not respect the civilian," al-Maliki said, according to reports from Baghdad. "They run (civilians) over and leave them, or they kill anyone suspicious. This cannot be accepted ..."