London, August 11: A British security guard arrested in Iraq over the shooting death of two of his colleagues said a drunken brawl led to the incident, in comments published here Tuesday.
Danny Fitzsimons, an employee of British-based security firm ArmorGroup, also claimed to The Times newspaper that he was acting in self-defence.
Two security contractors, one British and the other Australian, were killed in an alcohol-fueled shooting inside the Iraqi capital’s secure “Green Zone” on Sunday, officials have said.
Fitzsimons, from Manchester, appeared in a court on Monday, with Iraqi investigators saying they had all the evidence they needed to put him on trial for murder, according to The Times.
“I got into a fight with two colleagues and they had me pinned down. I received a real beating,” Fitzsimons told The Times.
“They beat me and that’s when I reached for my weapon. I was drunk and it happened very quickly.”
ArmorGroup on Sunday identified the dead Briton as Paul McGuigan and the Australian as Darren Hoare and said in a statement that they died in a “firearms incident”.
A spokesman for the British Embassy confirmed the shooting and said two Britons were arrested by the Iraqis over the shooting.
Foreign security contractors are a common sight in Iraq, working as protection forces for foreign companies, embassies and even US bases.
The role of private security guards came under intense scrutiny over a deadly shooting of civilians in Baghdad in 2007 involving employees of the US company Blackwater, since renamed Xe.
The Green Zone, which was handed back to Iraqi control in January, was the site of the Coalition Provisional Authority government set up after the 2003 US-led occupation that overthrew executed dictator Saddam Hussein.
The area is home to foreign embassies and Iraqi government offices.
–Agencies