6 Americans, 5 others die in downed copter

BAGHDAD — A commercial helicopter was shot down north of the Iraqi capital yesterday, killing 11 persons, including six American contractors, officials said.

Bulgaria’s Defense Ministry said the Russian-made helicopter was downed by missile fire and the victims included a three-member Bulgarian crew.

A Toronto-based charter company said there were two bodyguards from Fiji on board, while Bulgaria’s Transport Ministry said they were from the Philippines.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said the six Americans were employees of Blackwater Security Consulting — a subsidiary of North Carolina-based Blackwater USA — and were assisting the Bureau of Diplomatic Security in protecting U.S. diplomats in Iraq.

?They played a critical role in our effort to bring a better way of life to the people of a country who have not experienced freedom and opportunity for many years,? Mr. Ereli said.

The spokesman said he could not confirm the cause of the crash.

On March 13, two American contractors working for Blackwater Security were killed and a third was wounded in a roadside bombing south of Baghdad on the main road to Hillah.

Last year, four Blackwater employees were killed in Fallujah, and their bodies were burned and mutilated. Two of the corpses were strung up on a bridge over the Euphrates River. The deaths touched off a Marine assault on insurgents in the city.

The Mi-8 helicopter went down about 12 miles north of Baghdad, the U.S. Embassy said. Video on television showed burning wreckage from the craft and personal belongings scattered across a wide area.

The helicopter was owned by Bulgaria-based Heli Air and chartered by Toronto-based SkyLink Aviation Inc., said SkyLink air operations manager Paul Greenaway. The helicopter was flying to Tikrit, he said.

Elsewhere yesterday, relatives of Iraqis who have disappeared in a Sunni militant stronghold gathered at a police station in Suwayrah to examine photographs of the bodies of dozens of Iraqis that officials said were pulled from the Tigris River in recent weeks.

On Wednesday, President Jalal Talabani announced that more than 50 bodies were recovered, saying that was proof of claims that dozens were abducted from an area south of the capital last week despite a fruitless search by Iraqi forces.

Shi’ite leaders and government officials said last week that Sunni militants abducted as many as 100 Shi’ites from the Madain area, 14 miles southeast of Baghdad, and said they would be killed unless all Shi’ites left town.

But when Iraqi forces moved into the town of 1,000 families, they found no captives, and residents said they had seen no evidence anyone had been seized.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi Defense Ministry identified 19 bullet-riddled bodies found Wednesday in Haditha, 140 miles northwest of Baghdad, as fishermen. Residents initially said they thought the victims were soldiers.

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