ArmorGroup

ArmorGroup is a mercenary firm based in London headed by former Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind and is one of the biggest working in Iraq.

It is “one of two companies that have raked in a total of £15m between them� providing round-the-clock security in Iraq during the past year.[1] According to Jack Straw ArmorGroup and Control Risks are being paid a combined total of £50,000 a day to protect bureaucrats stationed in Iraq. This includes a £876,000 contract to supply 20 security guards for the Foreign Office – a figure that was to rise by 50 per cent in July.[2]

The firm employs more than 1400 mercenaries in Iraq , including 700 Gurkhas who guard executives with the US firms Bechtel and Kellogg Brown & Root. The Gurkhas reportedly earn $1300 a month. Employees also guard construction sites for Bechtel and deal with unexploded ordnance across Iraq.

The firm raised eyebrows when it was discovered that Derek Adgey, one of its employees, had been jailed in the past for helping the Ulster Freedom Fighters.

Credits

--Idrees 16:47, 17 Nov 2005 (GMT)