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HEIDI
COLLINS: Forty-three Pentagon contractors detained in
Iraq. Some of them accused of shooting a civilian.
We want to
go straight to CNN's Michael Ware now for us this
morning.
Michael, tell us what happened.
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi,
according to the U.S. military, what happened
yesterday is that this convoy from a private
construction firm that included security guards --
obviously no one can move in this country without
security guards -- was driving up the wrong way on a
thoroughfare in a central part of the city. Now, as
they were doing this, it said that one of their
guards or some of their guards opened fired and, as a
result, they wounded an Iraqi woman.
Now, this is really bringing us to the cutting edge
of how difficult it is to operate in this country and
it shows you how insurmountable some of these
challenges are at nation-building. I mean, this is
the American military. These are Department of
Defense contractors. These are the people who are
nation-building.
They're doing what the Army once upon a time used to
do -- delivering food, building roads, building
schools. But they need their own security to protect
them. And we're seeing the Iraqi government flex its
muscles and crack down on some of their behavior. So
this is sure to heighten tensions between the
American and the Iraqi governments.
Now, of the 43, the nationalities include Fijians,
Nepalese, Sri Lankans, Indians and some Iraqis. Most
importantly, the U.S. military says it's up to the
Iraqi government what happens to them from this point
on. The Iraqi government will decide what, if any,
criminal charges are to be applied, and of the 43
detained, most are expected to be released soon,
except for those involved in the shooting. On the
back of the Blackwater incident last month, this
really is going to inflame the situation -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Michael, there have been some questions
about whether or not there were any Americans that
were being detained. I think that we have learned
there are not. Is that correct? Is that the
information you have?
WARE: That's absolutely correct, Heidi. I mean, what
we heard yesterday from one of the most senior Iraqi
government spokesmen, in an odd -- in an unusual turn
of events, an Iraqi spokesman had it completely
wrong. There are no American contractors involved in
this incident, at least.
As I said, there was a range of nationalities that I
listed. None of them are American. Certainly this is
a construction and logistics company based in Dubai.
It has a contract with the American Department of
Defense, but, no, there are no Americans right now as
a result of this incident in the custody of the Iraqi
army -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. CNN's Michael Ware live from
Baghdad for us this morning.
Michael, thank you.