Families of GardaWorld and BearingPoint hostages appeal to Iraqi captors

The families of five British men kidnapped in Iraq nine months ago today issued an emotional plea to their captors in the Islamic Shia Resistance, urging them to recognise that the hostages were "not responsible for the actions of the British and American governments." They were contractors working for GardaWorld and BearingPoint.

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Arab Channel Shows Kidnapped BearingPoint contractor

The hostage, who has been identified as Peter Moore, was kidnapped by heavily armed men in police uniforms in May 2007 from the Iraqi Finance Ministry, together with four of his British security guards. They were driven away in a convoy of 19 four-wheel-drive vehicles toward the Shiite enclave of Sadr City in Baghdad.

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Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama Tussle Over Blackwater

Senator Hillary Clinton broke her longstanding silence on private security contractors in Iraq. Her senate office announced late Thursday that she is co-sponsoring a bill to ban "Blackwater and other private mercenary firms in Iraq." The timing of the announcement is particularly curious.

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Obama's Blackwater Problem

A senior foreign policy adviser to leading Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama told me that if elected Obama will not "rule out" using private security companies like Blackwater Worldwide in Iraq. The adviser also said that Obama does not plan to sign on to legislation that seeks to ban the use of these forces in US war zones by January.

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Lords hear damages claim over failed Equatorial Guinea coup

If the appeal succeeds, it could open the door for Equatorial Guinea to gain access to bank accounts in the Channel Islands that would prove who financed the attempted coup. It would also overturn a longstanding precedent of British judges refusing to interfere in the political affairs of another state.

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