Baghdad Travel Suspended following Mercenary Killings
From the North County Times (San Diego/Riverside, CA)
Excerpt: Iraq's prime minister on Wednesday disputed Blackwater USA's version of a weekend shooting that left at least 11 people dead and declared he would not tolerate "the killing of our citizens in cold blood."

Land travel by U.S. diplomats and other civilian officials outside the fortified Green Zone remained suspended for a second day after Iraqi authorities ordered Blackwater to stop working as an investigation continues into the Sunday incident.

The Moyock, N.C.-based firm is the main provider of bodyguards and armed escorts for American government civilian employees in Iraq.


Americans and Iraqis have offered widely differing accounts of the Sunday incident, with Blackwater insisting that its guards returned fire against armed insurgents who were threatening American diplomats. ...

... Iraqis have long resented the presence of the estimated 48,000 private security contractors _ including about 1,000 Blackwater employees _ considering them a mercenary force that runs roughshod over civilians in their own country.

Blackwater, whose convoys of SUVs careen through the streets with weapons displayed, has been singled out for much of the criticism. "Blackwater has a reputation. If you want over-over-the-top, gun-toting security with high profile and all the bells and whistles, Blackwater are the people you are going to go with," said James Sammons, a former Australian Special Air Service commander who now works for British-based AKE Group that also provides security in Iraq.
Baghdad Travel Suspended following Mercenary Killings

Labels: contractors, iraq