Gurkha, Iraqi die in riot-swept Basra

A NEPALESE Gurkha security man and an unidentified Iraqi protester were killed in riot-swept Basra yesterday, and an American soldier died of heatstroke as temperatures crept higher than 120 degrees.

Scattered protests over fuel shortages and power cuts caused by intense heat erupted in the southern city of Basra, the country’s second largest city, for a second day yesterday

“A Gurkha hired by the CPA (Coalition Provisional Authority) was killed,” the spokesman said, without giving details on the circumstances of his death. Gurkhas formerly with the British army have been hired out by a private security firm and are being used by the coalition, he said.