First big US contractor flees Iraq

BAGHDAD -- U.S. contractor Contrack International has pulled out of a $325 million Iraqi transportation project because of violence, a U.S. official says. The company is the first U.S. contactor to leave Iraq totally. Instability and the anti-American insurgency have delayed an $18.6 billion U.S.-funded rebuilding programme and forced more money to be diverted to security. "I confirm that Contrack has left," said Lieutenant-Colonel Eric Schnaible, a spokesman for the U.S. programme, on Wednesday. Contrack led a consortium to build roads, bridges, airport facilities and railways in Iraq. Posted by Editor at December 23, 2004 06:34 AM