- BAGHDAD (Reuters) -- A man
swivels and trains his mounted machinegun on the buzzing crowd as his jeep
tears across a busy city. A heavy bullet belt hangs over his bulging muscles
as motorists desperately clear a path.
-
- Another Rambo movie?
-
- No. The man with his finger on the trigger is one of
the thousands of private bodyguards flooding the mean streets of postwar
Baghdad to protect Westerners.
-
- Even in a city full of soldiers equipped with helicopters
and tanks, it's hard to miss the scores of macho bodyguards.
-
- With its suicide bombings, shootings and kidnappings,
Baghdad is the dream town for security companies offering safety in return
for millions of dollars.
-
- There is heavy demand for South African, British, American,
Australian, Nepalese and Fijian bodyguards, mostly former special forces
soldiers who feel at home in the world's hotspots.
-
- Business has been booming since a U.S.-led invasion toppled
Saddam Hussein in April. Businessmen, diplomats and construction companies
are paying big money for armed protection and risk management.
-
- "We do everything from protecting the individual
to political risk assessment to transporting money," said an executive
of a leading international security company.
-
- The men with the big guns often appear out of nowhere.
-
- Men in goggles, flakjackets and brown uniforms drove
their jeeps through the dust clouds of a traffic jam, in a rush to transport
money across the countryside. Two of them jumped out of their vehicles
and firmly sorted out the gridlock.
-
- POSH VILLAS, AUTOMATIC WEAPONS
-
- Back in Baghdad, security executives live in posh villas
with swimming pools and plenty of closet space for neatly wracked high-tech
automatic weapons.
-
- Operations rooms have sophisticated maps dividing Baghdad
into security zones. Company officials enjoy elaborate lunches discussing
the latest attacks then sling weapons on their shoulders and head to meetings.
-
- Or they discreetly show up at the scene in casual clothes
after bombings to gather intelligence.
-
- It's hard to tell the mercenaries from the spies and
security guards because secrecy is part of the aura. At the Baghdad Hotel,
which has put up huge blast walls since it was bombed in October, guards
with pistols in thigh holsters refuse to say who is in the hotel.
-
- Speculation strongly suggests the hotel is home to Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) agents.
-
- "I can't tell you who stays here. Who are you? Let's
see your identification," said one American after asking an employee
to write down a reporter's license plate number.
-
- The obsession with security has turned Baghdad into a
fortress. Westerners may feel safer but Iraqis are appalled.
-
- "These people remind me of terrorists with all their
big guns. Our wives and children are startled," said Abdel Hamid Hashim,
a Baghdad resident.
-
- At the Sheraton Hotel, home to scores of journalists
and U.S. construction workers, two Nissan patrol vehicles with armed men
screech to a halt and spin around in the parking lot.
-
- It looks like a high-speed chase but they are practicing
driving away from danger.
-
- A Nepalese security guard calmly watches from inside
the hotel, which is seen as a high-level risk of getting hit by rocket-propelled
grenades or rockets. He is used to it after years in conflict zones.
-
- "It's a pretty good job. The pay is alright,"
said Dharam Bdrgurung.
-
- Copyright © 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited
without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable
for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance
thereon.
-
- http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=ZD2FUMID1K
HHECRBAELCFEY?type=reutersEdge&storyID=3783333
|
