Ex-soldier accused of Iraq bar killings

A former British soldier accused of murdering two colleagues during a drunken row in Iraq appeared at a Baghdad court today.

Former paratrooper Daniel Fitzsimons, (aged 33), is accused of shooting fellow British private security guard Paul McGuigan, (aged 37), and Australian Darren Hoare, (aged 37), after a row in a bar inside a compound in the Iraqi capital in August last year.

Fitzsimons, originally from Rochdale, Lancashire, and the two other men were working for the British private security firm ArmorGroup.

Interior ministry spokesman Major General Abdul-Kareem Khalaf said Fitzsimons could face the death penalty or life imprisonment if convicted of murder.

A British Foreign Office spokesman said the hearing at the Central Criminal Court of Iraq was adjourned to February 18 to allow for further medical reports.

Family and friends have said Fitzsimons is suffering mental torment from the things he witnessed while serving eight years in the British Army, including tours of duty during the Balkans conflict and in Iraq.

His lawyers were attempting to have him extradited back to the UK to face any charges.