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Hundreds of pages of documents provide a fuller picture of the allegations at the heart of a lawsuit against private security firm, Custer Battles, which accusers claim operated shell companies that were used to bilk millions of dollars from the Coalition Provisional Authority.

The U.S. Army awarded $72 million in bonuses to Halliburton Co. for logistics work in Iraq, but had not decided whether to give the Texas company bonuses for disputed dining services to troops.

A Socialist deputy has taken legal action against the head of a company recruiting Chilean military personnel and adventurers in order to send them to Iraq as mercenaries.

Day rates peaking at $1,000 turned post-Saddam Hussein Iraq into a modern day Klondike for private security firms, but a growing number of hired guns are paying the price in blood.

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South Africans seem to be relying more and more on private security. The army of armed and unarmed security guards is growing and seems to be filling in the gaps left by the overstretched police force.

They are everywhere -- ferrying money to businesses in military-style vehicles, guarding gated communities or sitting on three-legged chairs watching over suburban streets. "Private security is growing and has gone through a silent revolution. All over the world, the industry has boomed," says the chain-smoking Jenny Irish-Qhobosheane, a private security researcher.

The company's plans for a state-of-the-art security training center in North Carolina have gone awry as it is caught in a swarming cloud of suspicion, lawsuits and accusations alleging fraud, kidnapping and more.

The private military company and provider of aviation services worldwide is designing and building a $300 million airport facility to "meet the rapidly-growing needs of West and Central Africa." The company will equip and operate maintenance, repair and air-cargo facilities.

The chairman of the U.S. House Committee on International Relations subpoenaed records last week and is pursuing his own probe of the UN program. ``My committee has an obligation to continue its inquiry,'' said the chairman.

Nana Adu Agyemang IV, Vice President of the Association of Private Security of Ghana (APSOG) on Friday, called on the government to streamline the activities of private security companies since some of them pose a threat to national security.

There are actually fewer than 70 Australians registered with the Australian Embassy in Iraq, but the true number is thought to be more than 200. Many contractors arrive without telling authorities.They include aid workers, security guards, truck drivers and representatives from Australian firms, including Perth-based oil and engineering companies. Australian companies have won an estimated $1 billion in Iraq contracts.

The U.S. Army plans to split the worldwide translation work now held by Titan Corp. into three contracts when the current $400 million award runs out in September, to make more room for involvement by small businesses.

One of most controversial issues the rules addressed was whether contractors should be allowed to carry weapons to protect themselves. The proposed rule said they must have the express permission of the combatant commander. Several commenters complained that this was unrealistic, while another expressed concern it would spawn "armies of mercenaries."

The Marine Corps accepted about 19,000 Interceptor outer tactical vests after tests revealed critical, life-threatening flaws in the vests. The Corps then issued nearly 10,000 to troops. It is unclear whether any Marine casualties in Iraq have resulted from shrapnel or bullets that have penetrated vests distributed from the lots in question. The manufacturer, Point Blank Body Armor, Inc., would not provide a list of serial numbers from the lots saying that the information was "proprietary."

An amendment was slipped into Iraq Supplemental spending bill behind closed doors that would prohibit the Pentagon from terminating the C-130J program. The Senate is expected to vote on final passage of the bill next week.

'Worse-case scenario is that someone took it home,' official says

A former investigator for an independent inquiry into the U.N. oil-for-food program handed over potentially explosive documents to a U.S. congressional committee, triggering outrage from inquiry head Paul Volcker.