Peruvian press reported that American company Triple Canopy, Inc. recruited and trained 218 people -- all of whom are either former soldiers or policeman -- for working in Iraq as "security personnel."

A U.S. embassy official in Lima, Robert E. Davis, acknowledged that Triple Canopy works for its government.

The training, done by local company Gun Supply on behalf of Triple Canopy, included shooting practice, explosives management and security techniques carried out in the outskirts of Lima. The training took 30 days.

The Peruvian recruits are already in Iraq.

This is not the first time that a U.S. government sponsored company hired people in Latin America to work in the Iraq war as "security personnel." The media reported recruits also came from Ecuador, Chile, Colombia and El Salvador.

The personnel are being paid between US$1,000 and $3,500 a month.

Triple Canopy has already obtained contracts with the U.S. government worth more than $250 million this year for recruiting people in third world countries and sending them to Iraq, the media reported.