Two Coalition workers shot dead in Iraq

Two Americans working for the US-led Coalition have been shot dead along with their Iraqi translator after their car was stopped at a makeshift checkpoint by men dressed as policemen in south-central Iraq.

The shooting happened outside Hillah last night, Colonel Robert Strzelecki said at the Camp Babylon headquarters of the Polish-led multinational force in Iraq.

Polish troops arrested five Iraqis during the night and found the victims’ bodies in their car, he said.

“The terrorists are held in detention now,” Strzelecki said. “They will be transported to a prison in Baghdad and interrogated by American troops because the victims are of American nationality.”

Strzelecki gave no information on the victims’ identity.