|
A judicial official in Baghdad said that Mr Fitzsimons could face the death penalty. He is the first British national and the first foreign security guard since the 2003 US invasion to face criminal charges in Iraq.
The two dead, also security guards, were named as Paul McGuigan, from Britain, and Darren Hoare, an Australian. The men, who all worked for the British company ArmorGroup, were drinking alcohol together inside the company compound in the Green Zone, the capital’s administrative centre.
"They were all very drunk and started shouting at each other. They had a big argument and suddenly [Mr Fitzsimons] pulled out a gun and shot his two friends," a witness said. "An Iraqi was standing behind him and tried to take away the gun. But he turned around and shot him ... Then he ran away."
Foreign security contractors were immune from Iraqi law until this year when the Iraqi Government demanded changes after alleged unprovoked killings by contractors.
The incident will embarrass the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, which had contract links with ArmorGroup, and the American administration in Iraq which had given the company a prime location.
It will also lead to renewed calls for tighter regulation of the industry, rocked last week by claims in court that the founder of the US security company Blackwater had encouraged the senseless killing of Iraqis.
ArmorGroup is one of the several dozen international security companies still operating in Iraq, fulfilling lucrative contracts to protect foreign officials and businessmen as well as a growing number of wealthy Iraqis.
The men, almost all former soldiers, usually work long, non-stop shifts and few get a day off while in the country. They come for the money and rarely leave their compounds. Their free time is mostly spent on the internet, watching videos and drinking alcohol.
It was one such drinking session in the early hours of yesterday that ended in death. Danny Fitzsimons and several of his colleagues were downing vodka in the ArmorGroup compound near Saddam’s Republican Palace,
At about 4am the men began to argue, a witness told The Times, and Mr Fitzsimons brandished a Beretta pistol. His colleagues tried to overpower him; two of them were shot dead.
To see the article please click on the link below.
Times Online |
