Security guard kills Iraqi driver

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/middle_east/7090931.stm

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An Iraqi taxi driver has been shot dead in Baghdad by a guard from an American private security firm hired to protect United States diplomats.

Iraqi police said the driver had pulled aside for a convoy guarded by the firm DynCorp, but mistakenly pulled out again before the last vehicle passed.

DynCorp said a guard opened fire when the driver ignored warnings to stop.

Iraq's interior ministry said it was investigating after the latest in a string of shootings by security firms.

A major diplomatic row blew up in September when at least 17 civilians were killed in an incident involving another American security company, Blackwater.

DynCorp, one of the big American security companies operating in Iraq, has contracts with the American embassy in Baghdad and to train Iraqi police.

Police say there was no threat to the convoy in the latest incident, which occurred on Saturday, but that the killing was the result of a misunderstanding.

The DynCorp guard opened fire, hitting the taxi's engine but also fatally wounding Mohammad Khodeir, who died on the way to hospital.

His brother says he is pressing for charges to be brought against DynCorp.

Especially after the Blackwater incident in September, the activities of private security companies are under close scrutiny, BBC Baghdad correspondent Jim Muir says.

There is a new law before parliament, which would lift immunity from foreign security companies and leave their employees open to prosecution.