Iraqi Government Report: Iraqi Authorities Seek Blackwater Ouster

[babylonsister]

Iraqi Authorities Seek Blackwater Ouster
Submitted by davidswanson on Mon, 2007-10-08 23:04. Media

By STEVEN R. HURST and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, AP

BAGHDAD — Iraqi authorities want the U.S. government to sever all contracts in Iraq with Blackwater USA within six months and pay $8 million in compensation to each of the families of 17 people killed when the firm's guards sprayed a traffic circle with heavy machine gun fire last month.

The demands _ part of an Iraqi government report examined by The Associated Press _ also called on U.S. authorities to hand over the Blackwater security agents involved in the Sept. 16 shootings to face possible trial in Iraqi courts.

The tone of the Iraqi report appears to signal further strains between the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the White House over the deaths in Nisoor Square _ which have prompted a series of U.S. and Iraqi probes and raised questions over the use of private security contractors to guard U.S. diplomats and other officials.

Al-Maliki ordered the investigation by his defense minister and other top security and police officials on Sept. 22. The findings _ which were translated from Arabic by AP _ mark the most definitive Iraqi positions and contentions about the shootings last month.

The report also highlights the differences in death tolls and accounts that have complicated efforts to piece together the chain of events as one Blackwater-protected convoy raced back toward Baghdad's Green Zone after a nearby bombing, while a second back-up team in four gun trucks sped into the square as a back-up team.

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http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/27538

[Ian_rd]

1. You beat me to it, Sister.

BAM! Another test of how sovereign Iraq really is to its occupiers on the other side of the world. You can bet the White House will come down hard on the Iraqi government for this, but Iraq has more than the USA to think about. It has its citizens who will react with anger and violence if Iraq buckles and lets Blackwater off the hook.

[babylonsister]

2. I'm hoping we're coming down hard and the Iraqis aren't buying it. nt