Angry Shi'ites storm Schlumberger camp at Iraq's Rumaila oilfield. BASRA: Iraqis angry over alleged religious insults beat up a Briton working at an energy company's camp in the country's south and spurred another firm to suspend operations, officials said yesterday. The two separate incidents come as Baghdad relies on foreign oil firms from the United States, Britain, China and elsewhere to help it ramp up crude output dramatically in the coming years in order to fund much-needed reconstruction. Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki waded into the disputes, which involved American oilfield services companies Schlumberger and Baker Hughes, calling for the deportation of one of the expats involved. Iraqi officials said a British employee of security firm G4S working at a Schlumberger camp near the giant Rumaila oilfield had on Monday tried to remove flags and pamphlets commemorating Imam Hussein, a venerated figure of Shias, just days before annual rituals marking his death. "A British employee took down a flag for Hussein and a picture of Imam Ali from the cars of the security company, and tore them down with a knife," said Ali Shaddad, a member of the provincial council of Basra, which is predominantly Shia. Rumaila, located in south Iraq, is the country's biggest oilfield, where Britain's BP and China's CNPC have been working with oilfield services companies to ramp up output. "This provoked a group of workers, and they went and hit him repeatedly," said Shaddad. He said the man was transferred to a hospital in Basra and had yet to be discharged. The provincial councillor added that there were demands for Schlumberger's offices in Basra to be closed and its foreign staff deported. Maliki himself issued a statement calling for the expat to be deported, while also urging local residents to exercise restraint. The British embassy in Baghdad said only that it was "aware of a consular issue, and we are following up." The incident follows a similar one days earlier in which an Egyptian employee of Baker Hughes, another American oil services firm, also tried to remove flags commemorating Imam Hussein and Imam Ali from vehicles he was to use. Several major international energy firms operate in south Iraq, which is rich in oil reserves, but take security precautions in the form of fortified camps and secured convoys due to the high level of violence in the country.AFP BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) - Dozens of angry Shi'ite Muslim workers and tribesmen stormed a Schlumberger Ltd camp at one of Iraq's main oilfields and wrecked offices early on Monday after accusing a foreign security adviser of insulting their religion, police and employees at the field said. Oil officials and workers at the Schlumberger drilling site in Rumaila North said the problem started when a security adviser they identified as British asked Iraqi workers to take down a flag and banners depicting a figure revered by Shi'ites. Schlumberger was not immediately available for comment late on Monday. According to workers and officials, when the workers refused to remove the banners, the security adviser went to do so himself and tore one portraying Imam Hussein, whose death more than 1,000 years ago is currently being commemorated by Shi'ites across the world in rituals known as Ashura. In the ensuing row, the security adviser pulled out a gun and fired several shots, wounding an Iraqi worker and drawing dozens of people from a nearby village to join the workers in storming the Schlumberger drilling camp. Officials of the state-run Southern Oil Company said production from the field was not affected by the incident, but oil officials said Schlumberger had suspended its operations in response, not only in Rumaila but at the other oilfields in Basra province. "We received an order from the main administration to stop work until further notice," said an Iraqi engineer working at a Schlumberger project in Zubair oilfield in the south. The protestors smashed up offices and severely beat the foreign security adviser, oil officials and workers said. A photograph taken by a worker at the scene showed a man with blood streaming down his face. He said it was the adviser. Security officials said the man was taken to hospital with serious injuries. Police and the army intervened to restore order and expelled the protesters from the site. "We advised the British security contractor to step back and leave this issue as it is very sensitive for the workers, but instead ... he went himself and removed the banners and tore one of Imam Hussein," said an Iraqi worker, who witnessed the incident. "Workers were provoked and squabbled with the British guy, but he suddenly pulled out a pistol and started shooting, and wounded one Iraqi worker," the man said.On Saturday, an Egyptian worker hired by Baker Hughes Inc to work at a drilling rig in Rumaila removed and tore a flag also depicting a holy Shi'ite figure,

• published: 13 Nov 2013
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