THEY'RE GOING IN - big firefight near kidnap site!

[Coexist]

Firefight rages in Iraq near kidnap site

By WILL WEISSERT
Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- British ground forces and U.S. military helicopters fought with gunmen Friday in southern Iraq where four American security contractors and their Austrian co-worker were abducted in a convoy hijacking near the Kuwait border.

As the coalition forces searched the area around the border city of Safwan for the Crescent Security Group employees, confusion grew about the fate of the captives.

A top Iraqi police official in Basra said none of the five kidnapped security company employees had been freed. He claimed the provincial governor, who announced the release of two of the hostages, had confused separate incidents in the same area involving private security forces.

Basra police Maj. Gen. Ali al-Moussawi said the five security contractors kidnapped Friday were still in the hands of what he called a criminal gang. He said the kidnappers had demanded a ransom.

more...

[Little Wing]

1. 1 contractor dead

[Coexist]

2. where did you see/read that?

please. Thank you.

[Little Wing]

3. LBn

[yellowcanine]

4. From the link....several conflicting reports on dead kidnap victims.

Only hours earlier, Basra Gov. Mohammed al-Waili said two of the kidnap victims had been freed and one of the five was found dead near the Sunni-majority city of Safwan. He gave no nationalities.

Al-Moussawi said the governor's confusion arose out of a second incident, this one on Friday in the same area, in which a convoy led by a different private security company was stopped by customs police.

As police checked the papers of the British security men in the lead vehicle a car drove by at high speed and opened fire, he said, killing one Briton and injuring a second. Al-Moussawi said the governor apparently assumed the dead and injured were from the kidnapped group of five.

It was impossible to confirm either report - or a report that the Austrian had been found dead - and American officials in Baghdad said they had no information on the hostages being released.

[lapfog_1]

5. Security contractor = Merc.

Let the company that is hiring these guys get the rest of their Mercs to go after them.

Our soldiers shouldn't pay the price because these guys got sloppy or unlucky. We shouldn't have any Mercs in Iraq anyway.

[Nite Owl]

6. Don't we still have a soldier

that was kidnapped and they stopped looking for him? I believe he was an Iraqi-American. These contractors are mercenaries.

[seabeyond]

7. ransom=fox do we all understand fox paying off is going to get others

kidnapped for ransom. bravo fox.

and fingers crossed and wishing the best getting the guys out

[Bucky]

8. Great. We risk the lives of 50 20-yr-old gunmen making $15k to save 30 yr old gunmen who make $100k

It would be insane not to try and rescue any American anywhere if they're captured by terrorists while on a job authorized by our government, but this is still a fucked up situation. The lives of those troops should not be treated as Dick Cheney's play toys.