Urgent attempts were under way last night to free five Britons kidnapped from a government building in central Baghdad by gunmen wearing Iraqi police uniforms.
The seized Britons included four security guards working for a private firm and a financial expert who has been advising the Iraqi government.
– The Guardian
The capture and murder of hostages such as Ken Bigley led to a dramatic fall in the number of Westerners travelling to Iraq. Those who do spend heavily on large security teams that, like Garda World, provide security details, armoured vehicles and accommodation in guarded compounds.
Baghdad is divided along sectarian lines. If not already spirited out of the city, the hostages would be held deep within Shia and Sunni strongholds, where only special forces dare to venture. The SAS and its support regiments maintain a substantial force in the Iraqi capital and will have already begun the hunt for the hostages.
– The Telegraph
Since March 2004, when the charred bodies of four American security guards were dragged through the streets of Falluja, private security in Iraq has become a multibillion dollar business for a handful of US and UK companies.
For the hired ex-soldier earning up to $1,000 ( GB pound 500) a day, it is also the most dangerous job in the world. More than 900 have been killed in the past three years, the majority of them American.
The Pentagon estimates there are about 20,000 armed security guards in the country although some observers have put the figure much higher.
– The Guardian
There are 44,000 private security contractors in Iraq, forming what the US Senate dubbed the “largest private army in the world”.
About 21,000 of those private guards are British – approximately three times the total number of British troops in the country.
Many are former British soldiers, some of whom had left the forces early lured by the high wages – a thousand dollars a day tax free.
– The Independent