S. African Killed in Iraq: Accused By Gunman of being a Jew

[Nathan F]

Link

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A gunman in traditional Arab robe and headdress shot and killed a South African security guard in a Baghdad shop Thursday after accusing him of being a Jew, officials and witnesses said.

Police sources had earlier said the victim was a Spaniard.

"He was a South African," Health Minister Khudier Abbas told Reuters. "He worked in the CPA (Coalition Provisional Authority) with security, as a bodyguard."

Witnesses said the man was shot in the head at around 10:45 a.m. (0645 GMT) while shopping at a small supermarket in the Adhamiyah neighborhood, a Sunni Muslim stronghold. His translator was wounded and rushed to a nearby hospital.

Risks to foreigners in Iraq (news - web sites) have spiralled this month with the abduction of about 50 foreign civilians. Most have been released unharmed but at least 26 foreign civilians and private security guards have been killed in violence in March and April, including an Italian killed by kidnappers.

"A gunman came in and shot them both," Aslan Khalil, a worker at al-Hadba (The Hill) shop where the incident took place, told Reuters Television. "When the gunman came in, he told us: 'This is a Jew, why do you deal with him and sell to him?"'

The owner of the supermarket was also wounded, hit by a bullet in the leg.

Another witness, Aydan Khalil, said the gunman had a keffiyeh headdress wrapped round his face and used an assault rifle. Afterwards, he left the shop and tried to get into the victim's four-wheel-drive vehicle parked across the street.

"He tried to smash the car and then he turned and said, 'I killed the Jew inside, you burn his car'," Khalil said.

The gunman then left in his own car.

There are many South Africans working in Iraq, mostly employed by private security firms. (Additional reporting by Fiona O'Brien and Seif Fouad)

Definitely not a good thing. I find it disturbing how nonchalantly he went about doing this.

[Bob the Gunslinger]

I'm surprised he used the term Jew and not "Zionist." He probably would have gotten more support if he called the guy a Zionist.