More arrests in helicopter downing in Iraq

'Carry out God's verdict,' then shooting
The survivor then tries to walk, limping with his back to the insurgents, who say something to him that makes him turn around. He raises his hands to somebody off camera as if gesturing to them to stop what they are about to do.

“Carry out God’s verdict,” someone is heard saying, and the militants shoot the man at point-blank range, continuing even after he falls to the ground. One gunman shouts, “Allahu akbar!”

In their Web statement, the Islamic Army in Iraq said it killed the surviving crewman “in revenge for the Muslims killed in the mosques of Fallujah.” It apparently referred to the Nov. 13 shooting of a wounded Iraqi by an American soldier in a Fallujah mosque during a U.S. offensive in the city.

The chartered flight was believed to be the first civilian aircraft shot down in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion two years ago.

Security guards were bound for Tikrit
The six Americans were headed to Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit for a U.S. diplomatic security detail, their employer confirmed Friday.

The guards “were simply passengers. They were going to Tikrit to do their jobs,” said Blackwater Security Consulting spokesman Chris Bertelli. He declined to give details of the security detail in Tikrit, about 90 miles north of Baghdad.

The bodies of the men, who worked for Moyock-based Blackwater, were being transported back to the United States aboard military aircraft, Bertelli said.

A total of 11 people died in the helicopter crash about 12 miles north of Baghdad on Thursday, including three Bulgarian crew members and a pair of security guards from Fiji.

It was the bloodiest day of the Iraq conflict for Blackwater, which is employed by the U.S. government for tasks ranging from personal security for U.S. diplomats to protection for aid convoys.

Blackwater victims identified
In addition to the six employees aboard the helicopter, a seventh Blackwater guard was killed near Ramadi when a bomb exploded next to one of the company’s armored personnel carriers.

Blackwater released the names of the dead Friday evening. Killed aboard the helicopter were Robert Jason Gore, 23, of Nevada, Iowa; Luke Adam Petrik, 24, of Conneaut, Ohio; Jason Obert, 29, of Fountain, Colo.; Steve McGovern, 24, of Lexington, Ky.; Eric Smith, 31, of Waukesha, Wis.; and David Patterson, 27, of Havelock.

The guard killed near Ramadi was identified as Curtis Hundley, 42, of Kernersville.

At least 18 Blackwater guards have died in Iraq, including four whose slaying and mutilation in Fallujah were captured in graphic news photographs in March 2004. Two of the corpses were hung from a bridge, triggering a bloody three-week siege of the Sunni Muslim city west of Baghdad.

The mother of one of the Fallujah victims, Scott Helvenston, said she fears more private security guards will die in Iraq.

“I have concerns for many of the contractors who are still over there ... because our government seems to be subcontracing out this war, and these companies have no accountability,” said Katy Helvenston-Wettengel of Leesburg, Fla.

She and other relatives of the Fallujah ambush victims are suing Blackwater for wrongful death.

Blackwater is one of many private security contractors working in Iraq, where thousands of civilians with other companies feed U.S. troops, fuel vehicles and train Iraqi police.

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