Iraq Orders U.S. Government's Security Firm Out Of The Country

Monday, September 17th 2007, 3:53 pm

By: News On 6

BAGHDAD (AP) _ The Iraqi government Monday ordered Blackwater USA, the security firm that protects U.S. diplomats, to stop work and leave the country after the fatal shooting of eight Iraqi civilians following a car bomb attack against a State Department convoy.

The order by the Interior Ministry, if carried out, would deal a severe blow to U.S. government operations in Iraq by stripping diplomats, engineers, reconstruction officials and others of their security protection.

The presence of so many visible, aggressive Western security contractors has angered many Iraqis, who consider them a mercenary force that runs roughshod over people in their own country.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice telephoned Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki late Monday and the two agreed to conduct a ``fair and transparent investigation'' and hold any wrongdoers accountable, said Yassin Majid, an adviser to the prime minister.

A State Department official confirmed the call but said he could not describe the substance.

But it was clear that the U.S. hoped the Iraqis would be satisfied with an investigation, a finding of responsibility and compensation to the victims' families _ and not insist on expelling a company that the Americans cannot operate here without.

Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul-Karim Khalaf said eight civilians were killed and 13 were wounded when contractors believed to be working for Blackwater USA opened fire on civilians Sunday in the predominantly Sunni neighborhood of Mansour in western Baghdad.

``We have canceled the license of Blackwater and prevented them from working all over Iraqi territory. We will also refer those involved to Iraqi judicial authorities,'' Khalaf said.

He said witness reports pointed to Blackwater involvement but added that the shooting was still under investigation. One witness, Hussein Abdul-Abbas, said the explosion was followed by about 20 minutes of heavy gunfire and ``everybody in the street started to flee immediately.''

U.S. officials said the motorcade was traveling through Nisoor Square on the way back to the Green Zone when the car bomb exploded, followed by volleys of small-arms fire that disabled one of the vehicles but caused no American casualties.

American officials refused to discuss Iraqi casualties, nor would they confirm that Blackwater personnel were involved. They also refused to explain the legal authority under which Blackwater operates in Iraq or say whether the company was complying with the order.

Phone messages left early Monday at Blackwater's office in North Carolina and with a spokeswoman were not immediately returned.

The incident drew attention to one of the controversial American practices of the war _ the use of heavily armed private security contractors who Iraqis complain operate beyond the control of U.S. military and Iraqi law.

The events in Mansour also illustrate the challenge of trying to protect U.S. officials in a city where car bombs can explode at any time, and where gunmen blend in with the civilian population.

``The Blackwater guys are not fools. If they were gunning down people, it was because they felt it was the beginning of an ambush,'' said Robert Young Pelton, an independent military analyst and author of the book ``Licensed to Kill.''

``They're famous for being very aggressive. They use their machine guns like car horns. But it's not the goal to kill people.''

In one of the most horrific attacks of the war, four Blackwater employees were ambushed and killed in Fallujah in 2004 and their charred bodies hung from a bridge over the Euphrates River. According to insurance claims on file at the Department of Labor, 1,001 civilian contractors have been killed in Iraq since the war began in March 2003, through June 30, 2007.

But Iraqis have long complained about high-profile, heavily armed security vehicles careering through the streets, with guards pointing weapons at civilians and sometimes firing warning shots at anyone deemed too close.

Contractors have been accused of shooting to death an unknown number of Iraqi citizens, but none has faced charges or prosecution. In May 2007, a Blackwater employee shot and killed a civilian who was thought to be driving too close to a company security detail.

On Monday, Iraqi officials were quick to condemn the foreign guards.

Al-Maliki late Sunday condemned the shooting by a ``foreign security company'' and called it a ``crime.''

Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani described the shooting as ``a crime about which we cannot be silent.''

``Everyone should understand that whoever wants good relations with Iraq should respect Iraqis,'' al-Bolani told Al-Arabiya television. ``We are implementing the law and abide by laws, and others should respect these laws and respect the sovereignty and independence of Iraqis in their country.''

Defense Minister Abdul-Qadir al-Obaidi told Iraqi television that ``those criminals'' responsible for deaths ``should be punished'' and that the government would demand compensation for the victims' families.

Despite threats of prosecution, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told Alhurra television that contractors cannot be prosecuted by Iraqi courts because ``some of them have immunity.''

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the United States had not been notified of any Iraqi government decision to revoke Blackwater's license and declined to speculate as to how that might affect State Department activities if it happened.

``The bottom line is that the secretary wants to make sure that we do everything we possibly can to avoid the loss of innocent life,'' McCormack told reporters in Washington.

In April, the Defense Department said about 129,000 contractors of many nationalities were operating in Iraq _ nearly as many as the entire U.S. military force before this year's troop buildup.

About 4,600 contractors are in combat roles, such as protecting supply convoys along Iraq's dangerous, bomb-laden highways.

Blackwater, a secretive North Carolina-based company run by a former Navy SEAL, is among the biggest and best known security firms, with an estimated 1,000 employees in Iraq and at least $800 million in government contracts.