Friday, February 12, 2010
Blackwater, the controversial security firm responsible for numerous shootings and deaths of civilians, has been kicked out of Iraq. About 250 former and current employees of the company, which now operates under the name Xe, were told they had seven days to leave the country or face possible arrest for visa violations.
The decision follows a U.S. court ruling in December that threw out manslaughter charges against five Blackwater guards over the killing of 17 Iraqis in Baghdad’s Nisoor Square in September 2007. The dismissal outraged many in Iraq who believed the company was getting off without punishment for the shooting which locals say was unprovoked.
The U.S. Department of Justice plans to appeal the decision of Judge Ricardo Urbina, who dismissed the charges because he said prosecutors violated the Blackwater guards’ rights by using incriminating statements they had made under immunity during a State Department probe.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Iraq 'Expels Blackwater Security Employees' (BBC News)
Iraq Orders Former Blackwater Guards Out (by Qassim Abdul-Zahra, Associated Press)
Blackwater Guards Charged with Killings Want Nicknames Excluded from Testimony (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
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