Report: KBR cited in Pentagon probe

WASHINGTON, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- U.S. military officials have found Iraq contractor KBR Inc. to be in serious noncompliance of safety responsibilities, sources say.

The finding by the U.S. Defense Contract Management Agency against the Houston construction engineering firm means its must immediately correct its deficiencies or lose its contract to provide military services in Iraq, unnamed Pentagon officials told CNN Tuesday.

The Pentagon review of KBR is related to the electrocution deaths of what military officials say is at least 18 U.S. troops in Iraq since 2003, the result, Defense Department officials say, of shoddy electrical wiring work on U.S. bases. The highest-profile case was the January death of the highly decorated Sgt. Ryan Maseth, CNN said.

Maseth's mother, Cheryl Harris, launched an effort to investigate her son's death, and the issue got more exposure this year when U.S. Senate and House of Representatives committees had oversight hearings to investigate the electrocutions.