|
Najaf: Shiite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr on Tuesday demanded the eviction of all "criminal" security firms from Iraq after private contractors fired at civilians in Baghdad.
There are at least 20,000 security firms in Iraq, according to media reports.
The Iraqi government has already banned North Carolina-based security firm Blackwater after its personnel shot dead 13 civilians and injured 13 others in Baghdad on Sunday.
Officials said Blackwater security guards "opened fire randomly at citizens", but the United States said the guards only responded to insurgent attack on a US convoy.
"Most of [Blackwater's] members are criminals and those who have left American jails," Sadr said in a statement issued from his headquarters in Najaf.
"We have heard of the cowardly attack committed by the so-called security company against our people without any justification," he said.
Sadr also demanded urgent investigation into the incident and compensation for families of all the dead and wounded.
|
