US soldier's family brings legal action against British private security firm

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· Erinys guards accused of causing death in Iraq
· Authorities close down UK contractors in Afghanistan

Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
The Guardian

A British private security firm hired to protect the oil installations of post-invasion Iraq is being sued for causing the death of an American soldier.

The case against the Erinys security firm, which reportedly has close ties to the former Iraqi exile Ahmed Chalabi, is believed to be the first brought against a private security contractor operating in Iraq by a member of the US military.

It comes at a time of rising unease about the actions of private security firms in Iraq after 17 Iraqi civilians were shot dead in Baghdad by Blackwater guards travelling with a convoy of US diplomats.

The suit against Erinys, filed last week in Houston, was brought by the father of Specialist Christopher Monroe, who was struck by an Erinys convoy on October 25 2005. He was on guard duty in southern Iraq when he was struck and killed by a speeding Erinys vehicle, the suit alleges.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2201538,00.html