British guard killed in Iraq

11.15am


LONDON - A British man working for a US security company in Iraq has been shot dead, the Foreign Office and relatives say.

"A Briton has been killed in Iraq. I can confirm his name is Michael Bloss," the spokeswoman told Reuters on Friday.

Bloss, 38, was working for Virginia-based security firm Custer Battles. The company said he was guarding electrical contractors in the town of Hit, about 120 miles west of Baghdad, when the group was ambushed.

His father, Peter, told BBC Radio News that his son had moved the electrical contractors to safety on Thursday but was then shot himself.

"Michael was killed as a result of an ambush near the town of Hit, while successfully protecting contractors involved in the reconstruction effort," Custer Battles said in a statement.

A company spokeswoman called his death "a tragic loss" and said the firm sent its condolences to his family and friends.

Bloss said he had not been told who had shot Michael but he assumed it was "rebels".

Michael Bloss, from Bridgend in South Wales, was a former soldier who had served with the Parachute Regiment.

He had been working as a ski instructor in Colorado before he left for Iraq.

A former colleague told the BBC that Bloss had sent e-mails from Iraq that recounted the increasing dangers he faced.

According to media reports, Bloss sent an e-mail the day before he died saying: "We are expecting to be overrun tonight and we may have to fight our way to a safe haven.

"Unfortunately, all the safe havens are already under attack."

Concern is growing for a British civilian reported to have been kidnapped this week in the southern Iraqi town of Nassiriya. He has been named as Gary Teeley, a British contractor.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq