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Iraqi minister's guard killed by Aussies
June 22, 2006 - 5:43AM
Iraq's trade minister lashed out at Australia today after escorts guarding an embassy delegation that visited him at his Baghdad office shot dead one of his own guards and wounded several others.
"They are trampling on the dignity and sovereignty of Iraqis," Abdel Falah al-Sudani, a member of parliament's dominant Shi'ite bloc, said on state television.
"We demand an explanation from the Australian government for this intentional and unwarranted criminal aggression against members of our protection force. It should also compensate the family of the martyr and the wounded," Sudani said.
An interior ministry source told AFP gunmen with the Australian delegation had opened fire at the plainclothes bodyguards they encountered as they left the minister's compound in Baghdad's western Harthiya neighbourhood.
"They thought the bodyguards had nothing to do with the Iraqi police forces guarding the compound," the source said.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Canberra said the shooting was under investigation.
"We are aware of an incident in Baghdad and it is currently being investigated," ministry spokesman Matt Adamson said in Canberra.
Reuters footage showed the Iraqi bodyguards' sports utility vehicle crashed into a pole, its windscreen peppered with bullet holes.
Earlier, a spokesman for the Iraqi Trade Ministry said Sudani had called for the suspension of trade ties with Australia over the incident.
"Immediately, the minister called on the Iraqi government to suspend all kinds of trade relations with the Australian government until it gives an explanation and pays compensations for the families of the killed and wounded people," Mohamed Hannon said.
It is not known why the delegation was in Baghdad, but Australia has been working hard to win back one of its most important wheat markets after the AWB kickback scandal saw Iraq suspend dealings with monopoly exporter AWB Ltd in February.
A 2005 UN report alleged AWB was one of more than 2,000 firms that had paid kickbacks worth $US1.8 billion ($A2.4 billion) to Saddam Hussein's government through the UN-managed "oil-for-food" account. If proved, AWB would have broken UN sanctions against Iraq.
AFP/AP/Reuters |
