Private security guards accused of killing two women in car
Hot on the heels of the Blackwater incident comes another controversial shooting by security firms working in Iraq.
Private security firms in Iraq were under fresh scrutiny last night after two women died in a hail of bullets, apparently because their car had got too close to a security convoy travelling through central Baghdad.I have already posted a video purported to have been taken by Blackwater employees showing just how close any car has to be to their vehicles to be taken out as a danger. The video is shocking to say the least and I continue to be astonished that no national network is running this video.
The identity of the guards remains unknown but Ali al-Dabbagh, an Iraqi government spokesman said: "Today's incident is part of a series of reckless actions by some security companies."
Later reports suggested guards from an Australian-owned security company based in Dubai, Unity Resources Group, had fired at the women.
An interior ministry spokesman said the company had apologised to the Iraqi government. The shooting occurred near Unity offices in central Baghdad's Karradah district.
Michael Priddin, Unity's chief operating officer, issued a statement saying: "We deeply regret this incident and will continue to pass on further information when the facts have been verified and the necessary people and authorities notified."
One witness said the guards in the convoy, who were reported to be masked, had fired a warning shot and a smoke bomb in the direction of the women's car. He said the woman driving appeared to panic and failed to stop. A police spokesman said their car had then been hit with at least 16 bullets. The convoy then sped off leaving behind the blood-stained vehicle. Iraqi police later collected the bodies and towed the car to a local police station.
An interior ministry spokesman said the government was committed to regulating the private security sector. A senior Iraqi policeman said: "Why is it that when US soldiers commit crimes they go on trial, but when these thugs shoot innocent people they get away with it?That's a very good question....
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An interior ministry spokesman
Not referring to this case in particular, but always take what comes out of the interior ministry with several grains of salt. The interior ministry is widely viewed as a hotbed of sectarianism and has been associated with death squads. This minstry has also had run ins with the contractors in the past, and the ministry is the one who wrote a recent draft law on security contractors. With that in mind, and given that almost every quote from the Iraqi government (I said "almost" so don't waste your time digging for exceptions from Maliki for example) that is in the press regarding security contractors comes from the interior ministry, it is worth keeping in mind that they do have other irons in the fire so to speak.
Well, the draft law that they are calling for is one that I would agree with. No-one should be allowed to kill with immunity and, as far as I can gather, that has been the set up for the private militias in Iraq.
And the video alone explains why that situation has to stop.
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