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Iraqis Vow to Prosecute Blackwater

Blackwater deaths called 'deliberate killings'

By Peter Fearon,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 8, 2007 1:19 AM CDT
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(Newser) – A spokesman for the Iraqi government continued to escalate the rhetoric on the Blackwater shootings yesterday, charging that security guards "deliberately killed" 17 Iraqi civilians in last month's massacre in Baghdad. Ali al-Dabbagh said the Iraqis intend to take legal action, despite a US ruling in 2004 that the firms are immune from Iraqi law. 

Dabbagh said the Iraqi investigation into the incident turned up "no evidence that the Blackwater convoy came under any direct or indirect fire, or that it was even hit by stones." Blackwater's founder, Erik Prince, said in testimony prepared for a  House hearing last week that his men came under small-arms fire and "returned fire at threatening targets." A joint commission made up of U.S. and Iraqi officials met for the first time yesterday to review the operations of foreign security firms and establish new guidelines to protect public safety.

Dr. Ali al-Dabbagh, spokesman of the Iraqi government talks to reporters during a press conference with Rear Admiral Mark I. Fox , Communications Division chief for Multi-National Force-Iraq at the heavily fortified Green Zone area on Sunday, Sept. 9, 2007 in Baghdad, Iraq. (AP Photo/Wathiq Khuzaie, Pool)
Dr. Ali al-Dabbagh, spokesman of the Iraqi government talks to reporters during a press conference with Rear Admiral Mark I. Fox , Communications Division chief for Multi-National Force-Iraq at the heavily...   (Associated Press)
Blackwater USA founder Erik Prince is sworn in on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2007, prior to testifying before the House Oversight Committee hearing examining the mission and performance of the private military contractor Blackwater in Iraq and Afghanistan. (AP Photos/Susan Walsh)
Blackwater USA founder Erik Prince is sworn in on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2007, prior to testifying before the House Oversight Committee hearing examining the mission and performance...   (Associated Press)
A Blackwater security contractor guards the convoy of U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad during a tour of Mosul, 360 kilometers (225 miles) northwest of Baghdad, Iraq, in a Sunday, Sept. 25, 2005 photo. The official Iraqi investigation into last month's Blackwater shooting has been submitted to the government...
A Blackwater security contractor guards the convoy of U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad during a tour of Mosul, 360 kilometers (225 miles) northwest of Baghdad, Iraq, in a Sunday, Sept. 25, 2005...   (Associated Press)
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Iraq • Nouri al-Maliki • Condoleezza Rice • Blackwater • Ali al Dabbagh • Erik Prince • joint commission

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