THE Foreign Office has offered any assistance it can to the widow of a North-East man killed by Iraqi insurgents.

The un-named 44-year-old, from Consett, County Dur-ham, was killed by a roadside bomb as he headed towards Baghdad Airport on Thursday morning.

The married security contractor, employed by Aegis Defence Services, based in London, was travelling in a convoy along the notorious airport road from the capital when the bomb went off.

Another two men were injured in the blast -a second security contractor and an Iraqi civilian -although neither are thought to have suffered life-threatening injuries.

The bombing appears to have been part of a series of terror attacks on Western civilian workers in the war-torn country, which have left 16 dead in three days.

Eleven contractors -six Americans, three Bulgarians and two Fijians -were killed later the same day when their civilian helicopter was downed by a missile between Baghdad and Tikrit.

One of the dead survived the crash, but appears to have been executed by insurgents as he fled from the wreckage.

A group calling itself the Islamic Army In Iraq claimed responsibility for the helicopter attack and released a video of the cold-blooded shooting on the Internet.

On Wednesday, an American, an Australian and a Canadian were killed when their convoy was raked with gunfire on the airport road, while another roadside bomb near Ramadi left a US contractor dead and a four wounded.

A Durham Police spokes-man said: "Durham Constabulary was told by his employers about the incident and were asked to inform his widow, which we did.

"We were told a senior member of the company was travelling north yesterday to speak to her."

A spokeswoman for Aegis Defence Services, which offers security for companies working on rebuilding Iraq, confirmed the death, but said no personal details would be released.

A Foreign Office spokes-man said: "We are aware of the incident and will offer whatever assistance we can."

More than 20,000 civilian contractors are thought to be working in Iraq and at least 240, mainly Americans, have been killed since the overthrow of Hussein.

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