Al-Maliki urges Blackwater withdrawal

[unhappycamper]

Al-Maliki urges Blackwater withdrawal
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Oct 18, 2007 5:30:02 EDT

BAGHDAD — Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has pressed U.S. Embassy officials in recent meetings to pull the Blackwater USA security firm out of Iraq even before the six-month deadline he initially set, a top aide to the Iraqi leader said Wednesday.

The aide said the Americans responded that they cannot give al-Maliki an answer until the FBI finishes its inquiry into the incident in which Iraqi officials say Blackwater personnel killed 17 Iraqis.

FBI agents on Saturday began questioning survivors and other witnesses to the Sept. 16 shooting by guards in four Blackwater gun trucks. Iraq’s government says they opened fire without provocation; the company says the guards responded to an attack.

The State Department also has teams in Iraq looking into what happened. Patrick Kennedy, the department’s top management official, is said to be studying whether the agency should continue using Blackwater to provide security.

Al-Maliki’s aide, who spoke on the condition he not be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter, said an Australian-owned security firm whose employees mistakenly shot and killed two Christian women Oct. 9 does not face eviction from Iraq because it quickly apologized, cooperated with authorities and offered compensation for the deaths.

Iraq’s government is demanding $8 million compensation for each of the 17 people reported killed in the Sept. 16 incident involving Blackwater.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/10/ap_blackwater_071017/