Iraq cabinet okays law to end foreign firms' immunity

[ProSense]

Iraq cabinet okays law to end foreign firms' immunity

By Ross Colvin
26 minutes ago

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's cabinet approved a draft law on Tuesday that would end the immunity from prosecution of foreign security contractors by scrapping a decree that Iraqis have complained amounts to a "license to kill."

The bill, which has to be approved by parliament, follows a September 16 shooting incident involving Blackwater in which 17 Iraqis were killed. The U.S. firm said its guards acted lawfully, but the shooting enraged the Iraqi government.

"The cabinet has approved a law that will put non-Iraqi firms and those they employ under Iraqi law," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told Reuters after a cabinet meeting.

Iraq says there are more than 180 mainly U.S. and European security companies in Iraq, with estimates of the number of private contractors ranging from 25,000 to 48,000.

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[bullimiami]

1. can they pull a W and make it retroactive to 2001?

blackwater, kbr and pals no likey.

after all, this was never an iraqi law, it was created by the overseer.

[Kagemusha]

2. Yes, they could, and act like a barbarian country.

If they really want all the contractors to leave, they can pass this law and it'll happen because no one wants to risk Iraqi "justice", whether guilty or innocent. But yes, if they really want to do that, I suppose they can. Let's see what happens.

[ProSense]

3. Kick! n/t