This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/middle_east/7035924.stm

The article has changed 11 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 3 Version 4
Security guards 'kill two Iraqis' Guards linked to new Iraq deaths
(about 2 hours later)
Private security guards have killed two Iraqi women in central Baghdad, Iraqi officials and eyewitnesses say. Foreign private security guards escorting a convoy through central Baghdad have killed two Iraqi women in a passing car, local sources say.
The security company involved in the incident has not been named. The security firm was not named but Iraqi police say they were definitely foreign and one policeman likened them to "gangsters riding away".
The deaths come after an Iraqi investigation reported that guards from the US firm Blackwater deliberately fired on Iraqi civilians, killing 17. An Iraqi report on Monday accused US firm Blackwater of deliberately firing on civilians last month, killing 17.
Anger over the incident last month is running high, and Iraq is demanding that the US end its association with the firm, which denies wrongdoing. The firm denies wrongdoing over the deaths and Iraqi anger is running high.
Witnesses to Tuesday's incident in the Karada area of Baghdad say the security guards signalled to a woman driving a car to pull over as they passed. Iraq's government is demanding the US end its association with Blackwater, which has the contract for guarding US embassy staff in Baghdad.
When she did not stop, the masked guards reportedly threw a smoke bomb and then opened fire, killing the driver and her passenger. Christian victims
Witnesses say the guards were part of the escort for a civilian convoy. It is not clear what their nationality was. Tuesday's shooting happened in the Karada district, an area considered one of the safest in the city, the BBC's Jon Brain reports from Baghdad.
'No value' The Iraqi people have no value to them [the security guards] relative of victim
According to eyewitnesses, the masked security guards threw a smoke bomb and opened fire on a car which was driving close to the four-vehicle convoy they were protecting.
Two women in the car were killed and a third was injured.
One eyewitness, shopkeeper Ammar Fallah, said the guards had signalled for the car's woman driver to pull over as they passed.
"When she failed to do so they opened fire, killing her and the woman next to her," he told AFP news agency.
"There were two children in the back seat but they were not harmed. The women were both shot in the head."
Relatives at a local police station identified the dead women as Marou Awanis, 48, and Geneva Jalal, 30, both members of Iraq's small Christian minority.Relatives at a local police station identified the dead women as Marou Awanis, 48, and Geneva Jalal, 30, both members of Iraq's small Christian minority.
"These are innocent people killed by people who have no heart. The Iraqi people have no value to them," said a relative quoted by Associated Press news agency. Attacks on Western convoys in Iraq are usually carried out by Muslim insurgent groups.
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh confirmed civilians had been attacked and said an investigation was under way "to find which security company it was". "These are innocent people killed by people who have no heart," a relative told The Associated Press news agency.
"The Iraqi people have no value to them."
Inquiry launched
The guards' vehicle was unmarked and it has not yet been established who they were working for or their nationality.
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said an investigation was under way "to find which security company it was".
A US embassy spokeswoman quoted by Reuters news agency said the convoy had not been carrying its staff.A US embassy spokeswoman quoted by Reuters news agency said the convoy had not been carrying its staff.
The incident comes a day after the Iraqi government demanded the security firm Blackwater pay $8m (£3.9m) compensation to each family bereaved by last month's shootings. On Monday, the Iraqi government demanded that Blackwater pay $8m (£3.9m) compensation to each family bereaved by last month's shootings.
The controversial security firm has the contract for guarding US embassy staff in Baghdad, as well as visiting businesspeople and officials. The controversial security firm is sued both by the US embassy and visiting businesspeople and officials.
It insists its staff were acting in legitimate self-defence in last month's shooting, and that they had come under fire from insurgents.It insists its staff were acting in legitimate self-defence in last month's shooting, and that they had come under fire from insurgents.
Private security firms have been granted immunity by Iraq's US-backed administrations since the fall for Saddam Hussein, but following the Blackwater affair the Baghdad government vowed to put them under Iraqi jurisdiction.Private security firms have been granted immunity by Iraq's US-backed administrations since the fall for Saddam Hussein, but following the Blackwater affair the Baghdad government vowed to put them under Iraqi jurisdiction.