‘Mer­ce­nar­ies’ to fill Iraq troop gap.……25 Feb 2007

Offi­cials from the For­eign Office and Min­istry of Defence will meet rep­re­sen­ta­tives from the pri­vate secu­rity indus­try within the next month to dis­cuss “options” for increas­ing their busi­ness in Iraq in the com­ing years.

UN group con­cerned about involve­ment of pri­vate secu­rity com­pa­nies in con­flicts.….…26 Feb­ru­ary 2007

The United Nations Work­ing Group on the use of mer­ce­nar­ies today expressed con­cern about the increas­ing involve­ment of pri­vate mil­i­tary and secu­rity com­pa­nies in coun­tries fac­ing con­flict, includ­ing their work pro­tect­ing min­ing com­pa­nies and the effect this has on local communities.

Nearly 800 con­trac­tors killed in Iraq.…..23 Feb 2007

[…] nearly 800 civil­ians work­ing under con­tract to the Pen­ta­gon have been killed and more than 3,300 hurt doing jobs.

[.…] But when con­trac­tors are killed or wounded, the casu­al­ties are off the books.