Two security contractors killed

A British national was being held in Iraqi custody after two contractors - a Briton and an Australian - were shot dead in Baghdad.

British company ArmorGroup Iraq said its employees, Briton Paul McGuigan and Australian Darren Hoare, were killed "in a firearms incident".

Reports said the contractors had been fatally shot after a "squabble" in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone.

ArmorGroup said another contractor, Briton Danny Fitzsimons, has been detained by police in connection with the deaths.

He has worked as a contractor for various companies in Iraq since 2004, but last year "took some time out", a spokesman for ArmorGroup said.

The Brit had only been back in the country for a matter of days.

The company added that a second British employee was questioned and later released.

Spokesman Patrick Toyne-Sewell said ArmorGroup Iraq was working with Iraqi authorities to investigate the circumstances of the incident.

A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office added: "We are aware of an incident involving British nationals in Baghdad. The Iraqi police are investigating."

It is the second incident in as many months involving contractor killings in the Green Zone, where many heavily armed foreign contractors work and live.

US-backed Iraqi forces detained five Americans on June 3 in connection with an investigation into the stabbing death of a fellow contractor.