By Mariam Karouny

BAGHDAD, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Two U.S. security guards and 31 other foreigners were among 43 people arrested by Iraqi security forces on Monday over a central Baghdad shooting in which a woman was wounded, an Iraqi government spokesman said.

The role of foreign security guards has been under the spotlight since a September shooting in Baghdad involving private U.S. security firm Blackwater in which 17 Iraqis died.

"This is a message to security companies that no one is above the law," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told Reuters.

Dabbagh said those arrested would appear before an investigating judge in Baghdad on Tuesday. "Those involved will be put on trial and the innocent will be released," he said.

Dabbagh said a convoy of workers being escorted by guards working for an Iraqi-registered security company was travelling through Baghdad's Karrada district on its way to the airport when guards opened fire on civilians, wounding the woman.

Dabbagh would not identify the company.

The four-vehicle convoy included 21 Sri Lankan, nine Nepalese and one Indian worker, he said. The security guards comprised 10 Iraqis and two Americans.

It was not clear who fired at the woman. Baghdad security spokesman Brigadier-General Qassim Moussawi earlier said the woman was crossing the street at a square on the edge of Karrada when she was shot.

He said those in the convoy were arrested at a checkpoint manned by Iraqi security forces inside Karrada. The unidentified woman's condition was not known.

STONE THROWING

Dabbagh said angry Iraqi bystanders threw stones at the convoy after the shooting.

Foreign private security guards in Iraq have immunity from prosecution under a 2004 ruling by Iraq's former U.S. administrators.

Many Iraqis view the thousands of private security guards working in Iraq as little more than members of private armies who act with impunity.

The Blackwater shooting enraged Iraqis, prompting Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government to approve a draft law to end the 2004 decree granting foreign guards immunity.

That draft law must still be passed by parliament before it comes into effect.

Blackwater, which guards U.S. embassy staff in Baghdad and visiting dignitaries, says its guards acted lawfully and were responding to a hostile threat to a convoy they were guarding.

The incident sparked a flurry of investigations. The Pentagon and U.S. State Department have since agreed to tighten rules governing private security contractors.

Iraq says there are more than 180 mainly U.S. and European security firms in the country, and the number of private security guards is estimated at between 25,000 and 48,000. (Additional reporting by Wisam Mohammed; Writing by Paul Tait; editing by Tim Pearce)

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