BAGHDAD (AFP) - by Salam FarajOutraged Iraqi authorities on Wednesday condemned the killing in Baghdad of two women by foreign security guards but the Australian-run firm which hired the contractors defended their actions.
The daughters (L, 2nd L and 2nd R) of Iraqi Armenian Christian woman Maroni Awanis, who was killed by foreign security guards, mourn during the funeral procession in Baghdad. Outraged Iraqi authorities have condemned the killing in Baghdad of two women by foreign security guards but the Australian-run firm which hired the contractors defended their actions.(AFP/Ali Yussef)
Tuesday's shooting comes just days after Iraq vowed to punish US security firm Blackwater after a probe found that its guards opened "deliberate" fire in Baghdad three weeks ago, killing 17 civilians.
"The government and the prime minister and everybody categorically condemns the actions of this company," the head of the Baghdad security plan, General Qassim Mussawi said in a statement.
"Our weapon is the law for this company and we will try to study this issue calmly."
Witnesses to Tuesday's shooting in the Karrada neighbourhood said a woman taxi driver mistakenly got too close to the firm's convoy and came under immediate gunfire by the guards, who work for Dubai-based Unity Resources Group (URG).
The taxi driver, an Armenian Christian woman identifed as Maroni Ohannes, 49, and a female passenger died of gunshots to the head. Another woman passenger was wounded in the shoulder, while a child was injured by flying glass.
Several witnesses reported barrages of gunfire while a policeman who witnessed the shooting said that after blazing away at the car the foreign security guards sped off "like gangsters."
"The first information that we have is that our security team was approached at speed by a vehicle which failed to stop despite an escalation of warnings which included hand signals and a signal flare," Unity said in a statement.
"Finally shots were fired at the vehicle and it stopped. Unity is now working with the Iraqi authorities to determine the outcome of this incident."
"We deeply regret this incident," the company said.
Tuesday's shooting comes just days after Iraq vowed to punish US security firm Blackwater after a probe found that its guards opened "deliberate" fire in Baghdad three weeks ago, killing 17 civilians.
"The government and the prime minister and everybody categorically condemns the actions of this company," the head of the Baghdad security plan, General Qassim Mussawi said in a statement.
"Our weapon is the law for this company and we will try to study this issue calmly."
Witnesses to Tuesday's shooting in the Karrada neighbourhood said a woman taxi driver mistakenly got too close to the firm's convoy and came under immediate gunfire by the guards, who work for Dubai-based Unity Resources Group (URG).
The taxi driver, an Armenian Christian woman identifed as Maroni Ohannes, 49, and a female passenger died of gunshots to the head. Another woman passenger was wounded in the shoulder, while a child was injured by flying glass.
Several witnesses reported barrages of gunfire while a policeman who witnessed the shooting said that after blazing away at the car the foreign security guards sped off "like gangsters."
"The first information that we have is that our security team was approached at speed by a vehicle which failed to stop despite an escalation of warnings which included hand signals and a signal flare," Unity said in a statement.
"Finally shots were fired at the vehicle and it stopped. Unity is now working with the Iraqi authorities to determine the outcome of this incident."
"We deeply regret this incident," the company said.
A small group of grieving relatives of the two dead women, both Christians, gathered for their funerals at the Armenian Church in central Baghdad on Wednesday.
"The incident is a barbarous crime," said one sobbing relative, Kasbar Boghos. "Those guards are inhuman. They have no pity nor do they have any religion."
Another, Kevork Armelian, judged the shootings a "crime against humanity."
"We call on the Iraqi government to put an end to this," Armelian told AFP. "It was clear that women were inside the car when they opened fire haphazardly and deliberately.
"We demand the expulsion of the company so that others can learn a lesson. The Australian government when sending envoys should teach them human rights -- not how to kill innocent people."
A spokesman for RTI International, a non-profit organisation which uses Unity as security escorts in Iraq, said the vehicles were returning to base after dropping off its staff.
"No RTI staff members were involved or present when the incident occurred. Unity was not transporting RTI personnel at the time. They had completed a transportation mission and were returning to their base of operations," Patrick Gibbons, the group's communications director, told AFP.
RTI is involved in training Iraqis in local government management and administration.
A US embassy spokeswoman in Baghdad told AFP that Unity was employed by a non-profit organisation under contract to the US government agency USAID.
"USAID does not direct the security arrangements of contractors. Contractors are contractually responsible for the safety and well being of their employees," spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo told AFP, adding that the State Department was in contact with the Iraqi authorities about the incident.
Iraq's government said on Monday that it was determined to rein in private security contractors operating in the war-torn country following the Blackwater shooting on September 16, which an Iraqi report said was unprovoked.
"We have set strict mechanisms to control the behaviour of the security companies and their conduct in the streets," interior ministry spokesman Abdul Karim Khalaf said.
الملف – دبي
أعلنت شركة
Unity Resources Group للخدمات الأمنية واللوجستية في بيان لها من مقرها الرئيس في دبي مسؤولية
Unity Resources Group للخدمات الأمنية واللوجستية في بيان لها من مقرها الرئيس في دبي مسؤولية
عناصرها عن مقتل امرأتين في منطقة المسبح وسط بغداد.1وقال بيان الشركة إن عناصرها أطلقوا النار على سيارة كانت متجهة نحو موكبهم بسرعة، وأخفقت في التوقف رغم كل الإشارات عن طريق اليد أو القنابل الدخانية، مما اضطرهم لإطلاق النار.1وقد أسفر إطلاق النار عن مقتل مارو أوانيس البالغة من العمر 48 عاما والأم لثلاثة بنات، وجنيفا جلال البالغة من العمر 30 عاما. 1وقد قتلت السيدتان بعد ظهر الثلاثاء في منطقة المسبح بنيران عناصر الشركة الذين كانوا ضمن موكب من أربع سيارات رباعية الدفع قاموا بإطلاق قنبلة دخانية تحذيرية على بعد 80 مترا من سيارة الضحيتين، مما أدى إلى إصابة السائقة بالذعر وعدم تمكنها من إيقاف سيارتها إلى جانب الرصيف.1وقال شرطي رفض الكشف عن إسمه لوكالة أسوشيتدبرس إن الحراس كانوا مقنعين ويرتدون ملابس رسمية باللون الخاكي، وإن أحدهم غادر مركبته وبدأ بإطلاق الرصاص على السيارة، فيما فتح رفيقه النار من سيارة أخرى ضمن الموكب الذي ضم أربع سيارات. 1وقال القس الذي حضر إلى مركز شرطة المسبح برفقة أقارب الضحيتين اللتين تنتميان إلى الطائفة المسيحية الأرمنية في العراق، إن مارو أوانيس كانت تستخدم سيارتها لتوصيل موظفات حكوميات إلى مقار أعمالهن يوميا، لإعالة بناتها الثلاث. 1فيما صرخت أخت زوجها أناهيد بوغوص قائلة "أتمنى أن ينتقم الله من هؤلاء القتلة، من سيربي هؤلاء البنات بعد وفاة والدتهن". 1من جانبها، قالت الحكومة العراقية على لسان الناطق الرسمي باسمها علي الدباغ إن تحقيقا يجري لمعرفة ملابسات مقتل عراقيتين على يد عناصر إحدى الشركات الأمنية الخاصة. 1بدورها، قالت ميريمبي نانتونغو الناطقة باسم السفارة الأميركية في بغداد إن السفارة لا علاقة لها بالموكب الأمني الذي أطلق النار على النساء.
