Witnesses of Blackwater shooting questioned

[unhappycamper]

Witnesses of Blackwater shooting questioned
By Sameer N. Yacoub - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Mar 1, 2008 15:53:42 EST

BAGHDAD — The Justice Department appears to be gathering testimony from Iraqi witnesses for a possible trial of Blackwater Worldwide security guards over a 2007 shooting in Baghdad that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead.

The witnesses were interviewed by FBI agents and Justice Department attorneys who arrived in Baghdad last week to re-examine evidence from the Sept. 16 shooting and determine whether charges might be brought in U.S. courts.

One Iraqi police officer, who saw the shooting but like other policemen interviewed by The Associated Press spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case, said investigators asked repeatedly whether the Blackwater convoy was under attack from gunmen before the guards opened fire on the intersection near Baghdad’s crowded Nisoor Square.

The officer said he told the FBI team there was no attack on the Blackwater convoy and the only shooting was done by the Blackwater guards.

He said investigators told him that he and other primary witnesses might be asked to travel to the U.S. to give their accounts to U.S. judges.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/03/ap_blackwater_shooting_022908/