A spokesman for Britain's Ministry of Defense said Friday that no British civilians or military forces were attacked or taken hostage during the hijacking.

The convoy was being operated by the Crescent Security Group. The company works mostly in Iraq, and its operations are based in Kuwait. Many of its managers and employees are American.

On Friday, a spokesman for the company in Kuwait City declined to comment about the hijacking, saying that top Crescent Security Group officials were meeting to discuss the crisis. But another official there said on condition of anonymity that the company was working with the State Department.

Whitman said that British forces were working with Iraqis to determine what happened and that US officials also were looking into the incident.

Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a US military spokesman in Baghdad, confirmed on Thursday that a convoy was attacked in the southern region of Iraq, but he provided no other details.

In Baghdad on Friday, a spokeswoman for the US military would only confirm that "an incident occurred at a checkpoint," saying the military would probably provide more information later.

Iraq's government offices are closed on Friday, a day of worship in mostly Muslim Iraq, and officials in Baghdad and southern Iraq were not immediately available to comment on the hijacking.

Italy formally handed over security responsibility of the southern Dhi Qar Province to Iraqi forces in late September, and British troops handed over control of the adjacent southern Muthana province in July.

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