Two French engineers killed in Iraq

[fantassin]

Two French engineers, apparently EOD specialists from the French company Géomine working for a US contractor, have been killed 30 kilometres from Faluja yesterday evening has announced General Swanack from the 82nd Airborne. Another one was also wounded by gunmen in a drive-by shooting after their vehicle broke down.

The convoy in which they were travelling did not stop when their vehicle had mechanical problems and they were left to their own devices.

Their job was to clear up an area under power lines.

http://radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/Index/nouvelles/200401/06/008-FRANCAISIRAK.shtml

(in French)

[Shadow]

RIP

[usa320]

RIP.

[He219]

:(
RIP

Two French nationals killed, third wounded in Iraq (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040106/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_unrest_france_040106164129)

PARIS (AFP) - Two French nationals were killed and a third wounded in a drive-by shooting in the restive Iraqi town of Fallujah, French foreign ministry spokesman Herve Ladsous said.

The two men were the first French citizens killed since the start of the US-led war in Iraq (news - web sites) in March 2003.

The French nationals were in Iraq working for US companies tasked with rebuilding infrastructure in and around the capital Baghdad, Ladsous told reporters. Their identities were not revealed.

They were driving in a convoy near Fallujah, west of the Iraqi capital, when their car broke down, diplomats said.

When the French men got out of the vehicle so it could be repaired, the occupants of a passing vehicle shot at them, killing two and wounding the third, who was in critical condition.

"These tragic events lead us to recall, as posted on the foreign ministry's web site, that it is urgent that all French nationals currently in Iraq make themselves known to our consular authorities and to the French interests section," Ladsous said.

Several dozen French nationals are currently living in Iraq, diplomats said, but an official figure was not immediately available.

The three French nationals attacked in Fallujah were not registered with French consular services in Iraq, he noted.

The French interests section, staffed by about 10 people, is located within the Romanian embassy in Baghdad. Paris has said it will reopen an embassy in Iraq once sovereignty is restored to the Iraqi people.

[fantassin]

One of the two killed has been identified as a 37 years old former Marine Nationale clearance diver and EOD expert.

[DE_Six]

RIP :(