250 Blackwater personnel kicked out

February 10, 2010 - 05:58:47

BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq:

A total of 250 employees working for the U.S. security firm Blackwater have been dismissed and given seven days to leave Iraq, the Iraqi minister of interior said on Wednesday, according to the semi-official al-Iraqiya TV.

A U.S. federal judge had dropped all charges against five Blackwater Worldwide security guards accused of killing unarmed Iraqi civilians in a crowded Baghdad intersection in 2007.

Citing repeated government missteps, U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina dismissed a case that had been steeped in international politics.

The shooting in busy Nisoor Square left 17 Iraqis dead and inflamed anti-American sentiments abroad. The Iraqi government wanted the guards to face trial in Iraq and officials there said they would closely watch how the U.S. judicial system handles the case.

SS (P)/SR

Iraq orders U.S. Blackwater employees to leave in 7 days

BAGHDAD, Feb. 10, 2010 (Xinhua) --

The Iraqi minister of interior has ordered former and current U.S. Blackwater employees to leave the country in seven days, the semi-official al-Iraqiya TV reported Wednesday.

"About 250 guards working for the security company Blackwater have been dismissed and given seven days to leave Iraq," Jawad al- Bolani was quoted as saying.

Blackwater, now called Xe Services, was a private security contractor hired to protect U.S. State Department personnel in Iraq. It was accused by the Iraqi government of using excessive force in Baghdad streets.

On Sept. 16, 2007, Blackwater guards opened fire with automatic weapons and grenade launchers on unarmed Iraqi civilians at the busy Nissor Square in Baghdad after a car bomb exploded, leaving 17 people killed.

The incident happened at a time when the guards protecting U.S. embassy personnel were given immunity for prosecution in Iraqi courts. The shooting angered Iraqis who saw it as a symbol of foreigners' disregard for their lives.

The U.S. government has accused five Blackwater guards of causing the deaths of unarmed civilians. However, a U.S. judge decided in December to drop criminal charges against five Blackwater security guards who were accused in the 2007 shooting.

Iraqi officials have rejected the U.S. judge's decision and the country has started to collect signatures of the victims to sue the company.

Biden says U.S. gov't to appeal dismissal of Blackwater case

BAGHDAD, Jan. 23, 2010 (Xinhua) --

The U.S. government will appeal the dismissal of Blackwater case as demanded by the Iraqi government, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said in Baghdad on Saturday.

Biden expressed his personal regret for what Blackwater guards committed in 2007, saying the United States insists to put anyone who committed crimes against Iraqi people under questioning, said a statement issued late Saturday by the office of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani after a meeting between them.

Blackwater, now called Xe Services, was a private security contractor hired to protect U.S. State Department personnel in Iraq. It was accused by the Iraqi government of using excessive force in Baghdad streets.

On Sept. 16, 2007, Blackwater guards opened fire with automatic weapons and grenade launchers on unarmed Iraqi civilians in Baghdad after a car bomb exploded.

The U.S. government had accused its five guards of causing the deaths of unarmed civilians. However, Ricardo Urbina, a U.S. federal judge, dismissed the charges against the five at the end of last year, claiming incriminating statements were used by federal prosecutors in the case.

The dismissal outraged the Iraqi victims. The Iraqi government said the investigations conducted by the Iraqi authorities confirm clearly that the Blackwater guards committed murder and violated the rule of only using arms under the circumstances of being threatened.

Biden also met with some other senior Iraqi officials. He arrived in Baghdad late Friday in a visit believed to try to help solve a dispute in Iraq over a ban of 511 candidates from running in the country's March parliamentary elections.

Editor: Mu Xuequan