U.N. wants security guards in Iraq to face law

raq says there are more than 180 mainly U.S. and European security companies in the country, with estimates of the number of private contractors ranging from 25,000 to 48,000.

The U.N. urged governments to make sure private security contractors were accountable for any unjustified killings.

Many Iraqis see security companies as little more than private armies which act with impunity. Iraqi authorities have accused Blackwater of "deliberately killing" the 17 Iraqis in last month's shooting, but the security firm says its guards responded lawfully to a threat against a convoy it was guarding.