Friday, November 17, 2006
Security contractors kidnapped in southern Iraq
Security
Four American security contractors and their Austrian co-worker were being held hostage Friday after their convoy was hijacked in southern Iraq, officials said. The other nine civilians who were traveling with the convoy when it was hijacked Thursday, including men from India, Pakistan and the Philippines, have been released, the officials said. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said that preliminary reports suggested the convoy included about 19 vehicles.
An official familiar with the incident said preliminary reports being checked by the military indicated that the attack occurred at a checkpoint near Nasiriyah. The convoy was being operated by the Crescent Security Group. The company works mostly in Iraq, and its operations are based in Kuwait. A State Department official informed the family of Paul Reuben, 39, a former Minneapolis resident, that he was among those captured, his brother, Patrick Reuben, told the Star Tribune newspaper and KSTP-TV.
An official familiar with the incident said preliminary reports being checked by the military indicated that the attack occurred at a checkpoint near Nasiriyah. The convoy was being operated by the Crescent Security Group. The company works mostly in Iraq, and its operations are based in Kuwait. A State Department official informed the family of Paul Reuben, 39, a former Minneapolis resident, that he was among those captured, his brother, Patrick Reuben, told the Star Tribune newspaper and KSTP-TV.
UPDATE: An Austrian was killed and an American was seriously wounded after their convoy of security contractors was hijacked in southern Iraq, an Iraqi police officer said Friday. The body of the Austrian hostage was brought to a morgue in the city of Basra at 2:30 p.m. Friday, and the wounded American captive was taken there so he could be transferred to a British military hospital, the Basra officer said on condition of anonymity out of concern for his own security. In Vienna, Astrid Harz, a spokeswoman for the Austrian foreign ministry, confirmed that a 25-year-old Austrian male from Upper Austria had been kidnapped when the Crescent Security Group convoy was hijacked in southern Iraq on Thursday. However, she could not confirm that he had been killed. U.S. officials could not immediately be contacted about the report that the American had been wounded.
COMMENT: If not accidental or due to wounds, the death of the Austrian could be a combination of a warning of what will happen to the other four hostages if terms are not met (if and when presented), as well as the fact that an Austrian isn't much of a bargaining tool as Austria is not part of the coalition. COMMENT ENDS.
