Iraq to put 31 Asians on trial after shooting

Baghdad: Thirty-one Asians will soon face trial in Iraq on charges of entering the country illegally, a government spokesman said.

Iraqi forces detained 43 people, including the Asian workers, after what the Iraqi military said was indiscriminate shooting in Baghdad on Monday in which a woman was wounded.

Government spokesman Ali Al Dabbagh said Iraqi authorities had finished their investigation into 21 Sri Lankans, nine Nepalis and an Indian.

"They will go before an Iraqi court on charges of entering Iraq illegally," Dabbagh said, without giving a date for the hearing.

The remaining 12—10 Iraqi and two Fijian guards—were still being investigated and could face criminal charges, Dabbagh said.

Thousands of Asians work in Iraq for private contractors, doing jobs ranging from driving trucks to cooking and cleaning.