IRAQ: Contractors Detained (for firing on Iraqi civilian crowd)

[Robbien]

Source: AGI / Italian Agency News

(AGI) - Baghdad, 19 Nov. - Three Italian contractors have been taken in custody by the Iraqi soldiers and are accused of randomly opening fire against a group of civilians in Baghdad.

It was reported by sources of the army who specified that the shooting took place in the Karrada neighbourhood, not far-away from the green zone. It appears that the body guards of a high representative of the Egyptian company Orascom had opened fire against a group of people. An agent of the security forces has declared that the three contractors have been taken into custody after they started shooting against the crowd and injured a woman on board of a convoy made of three vehicles.

According to this source, the roads were crowded and the crowd rapidly surrounded the vehicles not allowing them to proceed any further. After a few minutes there was the arrival of the Iraqi soldiers who arrested the contractors. This news was confirmed by general Qasim At who specified that the men are under custody and an investigation has started. According to the general, the men have been arrested after they opened fire at random.

Read more: http://www.agi.it/world/news/200711192034-cro-ren0117-art.html

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Another angle on this story from Associated Press
http://www.wkrn.com/nashville/news/ap-iraq-says-american-guards-detained/129259.htm
Iraqi soldiers detained two American security guards along with several other foreigners traveling Monday in a private security convoy after they opened fire in Baghdad, wounding one woman, an Iraqi military spokesman said.

<snip>

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 21 people from Sri Lanka, nine from Nepal and 10 Iraqis, al-Moussawi 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.

and from an Australian paper:
http://www.thewest.com.au/aapstory.aspx?StoryName=438277

An Iraqi government spokesman said that Iraqi security forces had arrested 43 people, including two Americans and 31 other foreigners, over a shooting in which a woman was wounded in central Baghdad.

"This is a message to security companies that no one is above the law," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told Reuters.

Dabbagh said those arrested would appear before an investigating judge in Baghdad on Tuesday.

"Those involved will be put on trial and the innocent will be released," he said.

Dabbagh said a convoy of workers being escorted by guards working for an Iraqi-registered security company was travelling through Baghdad's Karrada district on their way to the airport when they opened fire at civilians, wounding the woman.

The four-vehicle convoy included 21 Sri Lankans, nine Nepalese and one Indian worker. The security guards included 10 Iraqis and two Americans.

[Joanne98]

1. Here's a link to the founder of the company!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onsi_Sawiris

Onsi Sawiris
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Onsi Sawiris (Sawires, Arabic: أنسي ساويريس) is an Egyptian businessman, estimated to be worth approximatively $8.5 billion with his family, according to Forbes <1>. Part of the fortune rests in a joint venture with Swiss cement giant Holderbank. The result: Orascom Construction controls over 15% of Egypt's cement market .

He founded the Orascom conglomerate, whose construction, telecommunications and tourism divisions are run by his three sons, this most prominent being Naguib Sawiris. Other companies he owns include El-Gouna spirits (which was then bought by Heineken) and Orascom Trading. Orascom is involved in tourism development, telecommunications, construction and other fields. Orascom Telecom Holdings is pioneer in the telecommunication section with operations in Egypt, the Middle East and Asia.

His latest telecommunication project was the acquisition of the third largest Italian Wind Telecomunicazioni S.p.A.. The total value of the transaction was €12.138 billion . 50% plus 1 share of Orascom Telecom Holding was then transferred to Weather Investments <2>, which controls 100% of Wind Telecomunicazioni S.p.A. (aka WIND Italy), a transaction that took place in June 2005. In 2007, Weather Investments also bought the Greek mobile carrier TIM Hellas from Apax Partners and Texas Pacific Group (TPG) and rebranded it to WIND Greece .

Orascom Telecom has over 50 million users in its operational countries (excluding the 15 million in Italy). He is also a practicing Coptic Orthodox Christian.

"The Guardian" has noted that Nadhmi Auchi had helped Orascom Telecom (which owns Djezzy GSM) gain a contract to set-up mobile phone networks in post-Saddam's Iraq <3>.


Footnotes
^ Onsi Sawiris on Forbes' list
^ Hadia Mostafa, Come Wind or High Water, Business Today Egypt, February 2006
^ Nick Cohen, The Politics of sleaze, The Guardian, November 16, 2003
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onsi_Sawiris

[Robbien]

2. Thanks for the info. So we can partially blame telecom privatization

Telecos have to stop believing they are above the law. One of the articles stated the streets were so crowded the convoy started driving on the wrong side of the road but still got stuck in traffic.

Shooting people does nothing to rid of traffic jams.

Stratfor says the 43 guys arrested will go before a Judge on Nov 20th.