Five Britons seized by militiamen in Iraq
29th May 2007
Daily Mail
Five Britons are feared snatched at gunpoint by militia wearing police uniforms in Iraq today. The audacious operation may be the largest number of Britons ever seized at one time in the war-torn country.
The Foreign Office is "urgently" looking into reports that four British security guards and one further Briton, an expert advising the finance ministry in Baghdad, are among at least seven Westerners kidnapped in the daring operation by gunmen in the city.
All seven, including three computer programmers, were reportedly taken from the Finance Ministry building in central Baghdad.
The Iraqi Finance Ministry office in Baghdad where the Westermers were kidnapped by a group of gunmen wearing police commando uniforms
Details are sketchy on the nationality and exact number of those kidnapped, but if the reports are true it will be the first kidnap of its kind from a supposedly safe government building in Baghdad.
The BBC has reported that five Britons were among those kidnapped - but other reports did not mention the nationality of the guards and civilian expert from the treasury. Reports did suggest that the remainder of the hostages may be German.
Government's top-level emergency committee is to meet today to discuss the kidnap, a government spokeswoman said.
The committee, known as COBRA, will be led by officials from the Foreign Office, which declined to confirm any details.
The BBC has also reported that a crisis team, including police hostage negotiators, members of the secret intelligence service, and regional experts, is being assembled to establish lines of communication with the kidnappers.
"Where we suspect British nationals have been abducted it would be normal to meet," a Foreign Office spokeswoman said, adding several government departments would be involved.
A Foreign Office spokeswoman could not confirm the reports but said: "We are urgently looking into reports that a group of Westerners has been kidnapped."
The building is outside the capital’s heavily fortified Green Zone. The fact that the kidnappers were wearing police uniforms sparked rumours that "renegade" officers were involved.
Such groups have previously been involved in commercial kidnappings and have also been accused of sectarian murders in Baghdad, the BBC said.
Many of the police officers at the Finance Ministry were said to be wearing the camouflaged uniforms of Iraqi special police commandos.
There are conflicting reports about how the abduction took place. Iraqi police have said that the hostages were seized from cars outside the building.
They said about 40 gunmen sealed off streets around the three-storey computer science building belonging to the ministry.
However a witness, who did not want to be identified, said the lecturers had been giving ministry personnel a lecture on electronic contracts. The lecture was taking place in the ministry building on Palestine Street.
The gunmen, led by a police major, had entered the conference room shouting "Where are the foreigners, where are the foreigners?" the witness said.
A fourth lecturer escaped being abducted because he was sitting apart from his colleagues.
The witness said the lecturers, employed by a U.S. organisation, had given at least 12 lectures at the ministry over the past year. The British computer expert believed to have been taken was thought to be advising the Iraqi finance ministry.
Other reports suggested the Britons were working for the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East (FRRME), an organisation linked to the St George's Church in Baghdad.
A security company called GardaWorld said it was investigating reports that its staff were involved in the kidnapping.
GardaWorld won the FRRME 2007 Prize for Peace in the Middle East the earlier this month.
The prize was awarded in recognition of the outstanding service provided by GardaWorld to Rev. Canon Andrew White and the FRRME in donating total security protection and life support to the Foundation as well as office facilities at GardaWorld's Baghdad Headquarters in the International Zone (the Green Zone).
A spokeswoman for the firm, which has a number of British people working in Iraq, said: "We are working together with our teams in Iraq to fully investigate, in accordance with our procedures, what has actually happened.
These men are from a private security firm similar to GardaWorld, whose employees are said to be among those kidnapped today
"We are investigating the situation thoroughly at present."
She added that GardaWorld, which in total has hundreds of staff in Iraq, was involved in "risk mitigation" and security projects in the country. Many of its staff are ex-military personnel who have expertise in the area.
"We have a number of British people working as teams of specialists throughout Iraq," she said.
The Canadian-based firm is one of the world’s largest security organisations, with 50,000 employees.
Its website said it has managed the security of client projects throughout Iraq since 2003. Current taskings include protecting a multi-task telecommunications project for a major European engineering company, providing executive protection for a US consulting company and securing multiple worksites for an international power company.
When it won the FRRME's peace award, Rev. White said: "Without the immense contribution of GardaWorld, it would have been impossible to do our work.
"GardaWorld has provided an outstanding service to every aspect of our work in Iraq and in reality is the biggest contributor to our efforts of peace-making.
"It is also important to note that GardaWorld is not just interested in the financial concerns of running a security company in one of the most dangerous places in the world, it is serious about contributing to religious reconciliation and achieving peace in Iraq."
Working as a security guard in the war-torn country is a lucrative job that can earn employees hundreds of pounds a day.
But the job brings with it a high degree of risk in a capital city where lawlessness and violence are common place. Security guards who take on the role of working in Iraq are often ex-military personnel who are well versed in dealing with the day-to-day dangers of operating in a war zone.
Reports of the kidnappings come on a particularly bloody day for Iraq with two car bombings in the capital killing more than 35 people.
The US military also reported that an American helicopter had crashed in Iraq's Diyala province, killing two soldiers.
There was no immediate comment from the U.S. Embassy. A source at the ministry confirmed the lecturers had been kidnapped but said he had no further information.
More than 200 foreigners and thousands of Iraqis have been kidnapped since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
At least 60 foreign hostages have been reported executed by their captors - 41 in 2004, 13 in 2005 and 6 in 2006.
dailymail.co.uk
29th May 2007
Daily Mail
Five Britons are feared snatched at gunpoint by militia wearing police uniforms in Iraq today. The audacious operation may be the largest number of Britons ever seized at one time in the war-torn country.
The Foreign Office is "urgently" looking into reports that four British security guards and one further Briton, an expert advising the finance ministry in Baghdad, are among at least seven Westerners kidnapped in the daring operation by gunmen in the city.
All seven, including three computer programmers, were reportedly taken from the Finance Ministry building in central Baghdad.
The Iraqi Finance Ministry office in Baghdad where the Westermers were kidnapped by a group of gunmen wearing police commando uniforms
Details are sketchy on the nationality and exact number of those kidnapped, but if the reports are true it will be the first kidnap of its kind from a supposedly safe government building in Baghdad.
The BBC has reported that five Britons were among those kidnapped - but other reports did not mention the nationality of the guards and civilian expert from the treasury. Reports did suggest that the remainder of the hostages may be German.
Government's top-level emergency committee is to meet today to discuss the kidnap, a government spokeswoman said.
The committee, known as COBRA, will be led by officials from the Foreign Office, which declined to confirm any details.
The BBC has also reported that a crisis team, including police hostage negotiators, members of the secret intelligence service, and regional experts, is being assembled to establish lines of communication with the kidnappers.
"Where we suspect British nationals have been abducted it would be normal to meet," a Foreign Office spokeswoman said, adding several government departments would be involved.
A Foreign Office spokeswoman could not confirm the reports but said: "We are urgently looking into reports that a group of Westerners has been kidnapped."
The building is outside the capital’s heavily fortified Green Zone. The fact that the kidnappers were wearing police uniforms sparked rumours that "renegade" officers were involved.
Such groups have previously been involved in commercial kidnappings and have also been accused of sectarian murders in Baghdad, the BBC said.
Many of the police officers at the Finance Ministry were said to be wearing the camouflaged uniforms of Iraqi special police commandos.
There are conflicting reports about how the abduction took place. Iraqi police have said that the hostages were seized from cars outside the building.
They said about 40 gunmen sealed off streets around the three-storey computer science building belonging to the ministry.
However a witness, who did not want to be identified, said the lecturers had been giving ministry personnel a lecture on electronic contracts. The lecture was taking place in the ministry building on Palestine Street.
The gunmen, led by a police major, had entered the conference room shouting "Where are the foreigners, where are the foreigners?" the witness said.
A fourth lecturer escaped being abducted because he was sitting apart from his colleagues.
The witness said the lecturers, employed by a U.S. organisation, had given at least 12 lectures at the ministry over the past year. The British computer expert believed to have been taken was thought to be advising the Iraqi finance ministry.
Other reports suggested the Britons were working for the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East (FRRME), an organisation linked to the St George's Church in Baghdad.
A security company called GardaWorld said it was investigating reports that its staff were involved in the kidnapping.
GardaWorld won the FRRME 2007 Prize for Peace in the Middle East the earlier this month.
The prize was awarded in recognition of the outstanding service provided by GardaWorld to Rev. Canon Andrew White and the FRRME in donating total security protection and life support to the Foundation as well as office facilities at GardaWorld's Baghdad Headquarters in the International Zone (the Green Zone).
A spokeswoman for the firm, which has a number of British people working in Iraq, said: "We are working together with our teams in Iraq to fully investigate, in accordance with our procedures, what has actually happened.
These men are from a private security firm similar to GardaWorld, whose employees are said to be among those kidnapped today
"We are investigating the situation thoroughly at present."
She added that GardaWorld, which in total has hundreds of staff in Iraq, was involved in "risk mitigation" and security projects in the country. Many of its staff are ex-military personnel who have expertise in the area.
"We have a number of British people working as teams of specialists throughout Iraq," she said.
The Canadian-based firm is one of the world’s largest security organisations, with 50,000 employees.
Its website said it has managed the security of client projects throughout Iraq since 2003. Current taskings include protecting a multi-task telecommunications project for a major European engineering company, providing executive protection for a US consulting company and securing multiple worksites for an international power company.
When it won the FRRME's peace award, Rev. White said: "Without the immense contribution of GardaWorld, it would have been impossible to do our work.
"GardaWorld has provided an outstanding service to every aspect of our work in Iraq and in reality is the biggest contributor to our efforts of peace-making.
"It is also important to note that GardaWorld is not just interested in the financial concerns of running a security company in one of the most dangerous places in the world, it is serious about contributing to religious reconciliation and achieving peace in Iraq."
Working as a security guard in the war-torn country is a lucrative job that can earn employees hundreds of pounds a day.
But the job brings with it a high degree of risk in a capital city where lawlessness and violence are common place. Security guards who take on the role of working in Iraq are often ex-military personnel who are well versed in dealing with the day-to-day dangers of operating in a war zone.
Reports of the kidnappings come on a particularly bloody day for Iraq with two car bombings in the capital killing more than 35 people.
The US military also reported that an American helicopter had crashed in Iraq's Diyala province, killing two soldiers.
There was no immediate comment from the U.S. Embassy. A source at the ministry confirmed the lecturers had been kidnapped but said he had no further information.
More than 200 foreigners and thousands of Iraqis have been kidnapped since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
At least 60 foreign hostages have been reported executed by their captors - 41 in 2004, 13 in 2005 and 6 in 2006.
dailymail.co.uk