U.S. embassy guards get Israeli counter-terrorism training for Iraq

RAHAT, Israel (AP) -- Firing at attackers through a thick pall of smoke, U.S. Embassy guards from Baghdad and German bodyguards for the Saudi royal family safely escorted their charges through an ambush.

The guards were real, but Thursday's attack was a simulated training exercise in a course run by Israelis specializing in security duties in the Middle East.

The participants hope lessons from Israel's conflicts will give them an edge -- both when facing real combat and in securing lucrative security contracts.

But despite Israel's experience in combatting Islamic militants during its 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon and the last four years of Israeli-Palestinian violence, studying here has drawbacks too.

Many of the 23 participants -- which organizers said included four Americans currently working in Baghdad, three Germans who provide security for the Saudi Royal family and Croatian special forces -- would not speak to the media, fearing that if their training in the Jewish state were exposed it would compromise their ability to work in Arab countries hostile to Israel.

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