BAGHDAD, Oct 3, 2007 (AFP) - Iraqi politicians and lawyers voiced anger Wednesday that 'above-the-law' security contractors were continuing to operate in Iraq while being probed over a deadly shooting incident 17 days ago.

'Some foreign companies believe they are above the Iraqi law,' Amira al-Baldawi, a member of the ruling coalition, told AFP as more reports emerged of 'cowboy' antics and drunken shootings involving US firm Blackwater.

Iraqi officials had tried to stop Blackwater from operating after its employees were accused of opening fire indiscriminately in central Baghdad on September 16 killing at least 10 Iraqi civilians, Baldawi said.

'The Iraqi government on its part has taken measures to stop Blackwater but this company has connections with bodies and consequently would not abide by the Iraqi law,' she said, without specifying the nature of the 'bodies'.

A New York Times report on Wednesday citing witnesses, Iraqi investigators and a US official said that as many as 17 people were killed and 24 wounded in the Blackwater shootings.

Baghdad lawyer Hassan Shaaban said the firm should have been shut down until investigators probing the September 16 incident had finished their work.

'This company should halt its work until investigations are over,' he said. 'There should have been an investigation into the Nisoor Square event before a decision was taken to say if they should continue working in Iraq or not.'

Three investigations have been called by the US State Department, whose staff Blackwater was protecting during the shootings, and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has called for a '360-degree' look at the events.

The US Defence Department, which also uses Blackwater to protect a number of its personnel, has launched a fourth inquiry.

'As far as the law is concerned, if the probes prove they are responsible for the incident they should be expelled in accordance with Iraqi law,' said Hassan.

'They are not an army neither US armed forces. They merely present company services and consequently any violation on the land of Iraq should be subject to the Iraqi judiciary.'

Blackwater boss, ex-Navy SEAL Erik Prince, denied at a hearing before Congress on Tuesday that his staff ran riot like 'cowboys' after a Congressional report suggested the company's security teams in Iraq are out of control.

A committee report found that Blackwater, which protects US diplomats and visiting dignitaries, had been involved in nearly 200 shootings in Iraq since 2005, and accused it of covering up fatal shootings involving its staff.

In one incident cited by the committee, a drunken Blackwater employee shot and killed a guard of Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdel Mahdi.