Mood:
d'ohNow Playing: More deaths from out-of-control US invasion (contractors)
Topic: WAR
Iraq warns foreign
security firms
after shooting
By Mariam Karouny and Waleed Ibrahim
http://www.reuters.com/article/middleeastCrisis/idUSYAT047958
BAGHDAD, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Iraq's government turned up the heat on private security firms on Tuesday, threatening to deal firmly with those that act outside the law and opening an investigation into the shooting of a woman in central Baghdad.
Monday's shooting was the latest in a string of incidents that have triggered widespread anger and prompted the Iraqi government to propose a change to the laws under which foreign security contractors operate.
The U.S. military said those responsible for the shooting on Monday could be charged under Iraqi law because the company involved, Dubai-based ALMCO, is a logistics contractor for food supply, construction and training, rather than a security firm.
Contacted in Dubai, ALMCO declined comment on the incident.
"We demand that all security companies obey the law and orders released by the Iraqi government, otherwise the security forces will be obliged to deal firmly with these companies," Baghdad security spokesman Brigadier-General Qassim Moussawi told a news conference.
Moussawi said Iraqi officials would try to bring charges against those responsible for seriously wounding the woman.
"There was a violation of Iraqi law," he said. "They were driving on the wrong side of the road, there was a random shooting and they hit a woman in her legs."
An investigation has been launched into the incident, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement.
Statements from the firm's employees, taken in front of a civil judge, "revealed attempted murder of Iraqi civilians and other violations", Dabbagh said. "The Iraqi government will release those not found guilty in the Karrada incident once the investigation is concluded."
Moussawi and government officials identified 43 people detained at an Iraqi checkpoint after the shooting as including 21 Sri Lankans, nine Nepalis and one Indian.
There were 12 guards -- 10 Iraqis and two Fijians -- with the convoy of four vehicles, they said.
BLACKWATER
A September shooting involving Blackwater, a private U.S. firm, in which 17 Iraqis were killed, prompted the Iraqi government to approve a draft law to end a 2004 decree by former U.S. administrators giving security firms immunity from prosecution.
That draft law must still be passed by parliament.
The U.S. military said ALMCO was contracted by the U.S. Department of Defense and provided its own security.
Many Iraqis regard foreign security firms as little more than private armies which act with impunity.
Blackwater says it acted lawfully in the September shooting but the incident sparked a flurry of investigations and strained relations between Washington and Iraq.
Also on Tuesday, Iran said it had agreed to hold talks with the United States on Iraq's security in the "near future".
Another meeting between U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and his Iranian counterpart in Baghdad would be the fourth time since May that the long-time foes have sat down to discuss Iraq.
The two countries have traded blame for Iraq's violence and Tehran has denied Washington's charges that it has armed, funded and supported Shi'ite militias.
With tensions appearing to ebb slightly, Iranian Foreign Minister Manoucher Mottaki said Iran had accepted a U.S. request, routed through the Swiss embassy in Tehran, for a new round of talks. Iraq's government said no date had been set. (Additional reporting by Alaa Shahine, Tehran bureau; Writing by Paul Tait and Missy Ryan, Editing by Dean Yates)
