British, Australian security contractors shot dead in Iraq

by Aubrey Belford

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Two security contractors, one British and the other Australian, were killed in an alcohol-fueled shooting inside the Iraqi capital's secure "Green Zone" on Sunday, officials said.

The men, employees of UK-based firm ArmorGroup, were allegedly shot dead by a British colleague after a bout of drinking in the early hours of the morning in the heavily fortified area, Baghdad military spokesman Qassem Atta said.

An Iraqi military helicopter patrols the skies over Baghdad's "Green Zone" in April 2009. An Australian and a Briton, both security contractors, were killed in a shooting inside central Baghdad's secure "Green Zone" early on Sunday, a British embassy official said.

"The (alleged) perpetrator arrived yesterday from abroad. They drank a lot and afterwards there was a dispute, then he took his weapon and killed the two men," Atta said.

"After that he went outside of the trailer and he shot an Iraqi and injured him in the leg. Security forces surrounded him and he gave himself up," he said, adding the man was under arrest with Iraqi police.

The injured Iraqi was also an employee of ArmorGroup, he said.

ArmorGroup identified the dead Briton as Paul McGuigan and the Australian as Darren Hoare and said in a statement they died in a "firearms incident."

"Their next of kin have been informed and we are supporting them as much as we can in these tragic circumstances," company spokesman Patrick Toyne-Sewell said in the statement.

A spokesman for the British Embassy, Jawad Syed, confirmed the shooting and said two Britons "believed" to be employees of ArmorGroup were arrested by the Iraqis over the shooting.

The British Foreign office also said in a statement two Britons were being held.

Foreign security contractors are a common sight in Iraq, working as protection forces for foreign companies, embassies and even US bases.

The role of private security guards came under intense scrutiny over a deadly shooting of civilians in Baghdad in 2007 involving employees of the US company Blackwater, since renamed Xe.

An Iraqi investigation found that 17 civilians died and 20 were wounded when Blackwater guards opened fire with automatic weapons while escorting an American diplomatic convoy through Baghdad's Nisur Square.

The incident led the Iraqi government to revoke the immunity from prosecution enjoyed by private contractors.

The Iraqi government banned the company in January and it ended its operations in the country in May.

In June this year five Americans working for a security company in Baghdad were cleared of suspicion over the fatal stabbing of 60-year-old US citizen James Kitterman.

The Green Zone, which was handed back to Iraqi control in January, was the site of the Coalition Provisional Authority government set up after the 2003 US-led occupation that overthrew executed dictator Saddam Hussein.

The area is home to foreign embassies and Iraqi government offices.