Diplomatic convoys curtailed in Iraq = Blackwater USA

[L. Coyote]

Diplomatic convoys curtailed in Iraq
U.S. Bans Diplomatic Ground Movements in Iraq Outside Protected Green Zone
ROBERT H. REID and MATTHEW LEE
AP News Sep 18, 2007 19:25 EDT
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2007/09/iraqis_to_review_security_comp.php

The Iraqi government said Tuesday it would review the status of private security companies as anger over the alleged involvement of Blackwater USA in a fatal shooting of civilians threatened to spread to other firms ... Muqtada al-Sadr called for all contracts of foreign securities firms to be annulled and blamed the government for failing to protect Iraqis, noting the shootings occurred on a busy square filled with Iraqi troops.

"This aggression wouldn't have happened had it not been for the presence of the occupiers who brought these companies," al-Sadr's political committee said in a statement issued by his office in the holy city of Najaf.

It also called for a speedy investigation, the referral of those involved to the Iraqi justice system and compensation for families of the victims.

A series of bombings, meanwhile, ripped through Baghdad, killing at least 18 people and wounding dozens............