Iraq Arrests 2 U.S. Guards After Shooting

[truthpusher]

Source: CBS News

BAGHDAD (CBS News) ― Iraqi troops detained 43 people, most Sri Lankans and other foreigners, in a convoy run by a U.S.-contracted firm after an Iraqi woman was wounded in a Baghdad shooting involving their vehicles, the U.S. military said. It denied reports that two Americans were also arrested.

U.S. military and embassy officials had no immediate information about the report, which follows a series of recent shootings in which foreign security guards have allegedly killed Iraqis.

Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi said the convoy was driving on the wrong side of the road in the central Baghdad neighborhood of Karradah when the shooting occurred.

Those arrested included two American guards, along with 41 people from Sri Lanka, nine from Nepal and 10 Iraqis, the Baghdad military spokesman said. He earlier said an Italian, nine from Bangladesh and one from India were detained but later retracted that statement.

"We have given orders to our security forces to immediately intervene in case they see any violations by security companies. The members of this security company wounded an innocent woman and they tried to escape the scene, but Iraq forces arrested them," al-Moussawi told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.


Read more: http://cbs13.com/national/Iraq.United.States.2.577137.html

[laststeamtrain]

1. AP: "US denies Americans detained in shooting"

US denies Americans detained in shooting

By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer 17 minutes ago

Iraqi troops detained 43 people, most Sri Lankans and other foreigners, in a convoy run by a U.S.-contracted firm after an Iraqi woman was wounded in a Baghdad shooting involving their vehicles, the U.S. military said. It denied reports that two Americans were also arrested.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071120/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq
*
???

[TheDebbieDee]

2. "Those arrested included two American guards,"

Maybe these guards are employed by the American contractor, but the guards are not Americans.

[Lautremont]

3. Well, if they do turn out to be Americans, I for one say we must invade Iraq!

Oh...

[laststeamtrain]

4. WP: Shots Fired From Convoy Set an Iraqi Mob to Action

Shots Fired From Convoy Set an Iraqi Mob to Action

By Sudarsan Raghavan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, November 20, 2007; A10

BAGHDAD, Nov. 20 -- The bullet tore through a red jacket that hung on the rack of the outdoor stall and struck Roba Taha in the foot. As her blood began to spill onto the sidewalk, so did the anger of scores of shopkeepers along this busy commercial street in Baghdad's Karrada neighborhood on Monday.

Some rushed the high school student to the hospital. Most rushed to a high-walled white dump truck to confront the driver, who allegedly fired several shots. Residents standing on their balconies yelled out that men were hiding in the bed of the truck. Frank Leever, 28, an Iraqi Christian shopkeeper, clambered up the back of the vehicle. "They are Afghanis. They are terrorists," he recalled shouting.

The mob closed in, hurling rocks and accusations.

<snip>

In total, U.S. military and Iraqi officials said, 43 people were arrested: 21 Sri Lankans, 1 Indian and 9 Nepalese contractors, 10 Iraqi security guards and 2 Fijian guards. The two Fijian guards had U.S. Defense Department identity cards, according to Maj. Brad Leighton.

Leighton and Khalaf said that the four-vehicle convoy belonged to Almco, a Dubai-based construction company with U.S. military contracts, none to provide security. But it was unclear whether the convoy was working on a U.S. defense project Monday. Among other jobs, Almco was hired to help build a heavily secured justice complex in eastern Baghdad.

Although it has U.S. military contracts, Almco, not the U.S. government, was responsible for security of its convoys, Leighton said. The convoy, according to witnesses and videos taken at the scene, included an armored Land Rover and a Mercedes -- vehicles not usually associated with private security firms.

<more>

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/19/AR2007111901939.html?nav=rss_world/mideast/iraq

[TheLastMohican]

5. Iraqis are starting to get their country back

It is a good change for better rather than seeing charred remains of mercenaries hanging from the bridge.

[maddezmom]

6. 43 in Contractor’s Convoy Held After Baghdad Shooting

43 in Contractor’s Convoy Held After Baghdad Shooting
By CARA BUCKLEY
Published: November 20, 2007
BAGHDAD, Nov. 19 — The Iraqi military detained 43 people in a convoy for a contractor with the United States military on Monday after the shooting of an 18-year-old woman in central Baghdad, the military said.

Witnesses and an Iraqi Army sergeant said a guard on the convoy wounded the teenager in the leg as she crossed the street in the bustling, mixed neighborhood of Karada.

While some early accounts said American security guards had been arrested, Maj. Brad Leighton, a spokesman for the military, said none of those arrested were Americans. The military said the episode involved Almco, a Dubai-based company under contract to the military.

Immediately after the shooting on Monday, a throng of angry civilians lashed out at the guard and beat him along with his passengers, believing they were insurgents, witnesses said.

more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/20/world/middleeast/20iraq.html?ref=world

[0007]

7. An aggregate cluster fuck in the strictest sense of junior's allies, 'eh?

"43 people were arrested: 21 Sri Lankans, 1 Indian and 9 Nepalese contractors, 10 Iraqi security guards and 2 Fijian guards. The two Fijian guards had U.S. Defense Department identity cards, according to Maj. Brad Leighton."......Washington Post article.