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Blackwater Owes $136M: Iraq

Demands firm pay millions to victims

By Caroline Zimmerman,  Newser User

Posted Oct 8, 2007 8:32 PM CDT
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(Newser) – Today Iraq told Bush to cut ties with Blackwater and then demanded that the firm pay $8 million for each victim in a recent shooting, the AP reports. Al-Maliki’s government also wants Bush to deliver Blackwater mercs to face possible justice in Iraq. Today’s demands stem from an Iraqi probe into a Sept. 17 Blackwater shooting, which Iraq says left 17 dead.

Iraq also denies US claims to Blackwater immunity, saying the company’s license to operate died last year—before the private mercs killed 21 and wounded 27 in 56 separate incidents. The report justifies its $136 million price tag by saying that “Blackwater uses employees who disrespect the rights of Iraqi citizens even though they are guests in this country."

Two private security company vehicles, green in colour, drive in Tahrir Square, central Baghdad, Iraq, on Monday, Oct. 8, 2007. An official Iraqi investigation into the Blackwater shootings on Sept.16,in Baghdad has raised the number of Iraqis killed to 17 six more than previously thought and concluded the...
Two private security company vehicles, green in colour, drive in Tahrir Square, central Baghdad, Iraq, on Monday, Oct. 8, 2007. An official Iraqi investigation into the Blackwater shootings on Sept.16,in...   (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)
Plainclothes contractors working for Blackwater USA take part in a firefight as Iraqi demonstrators loyal to Muqtada Al Sadr attempt to advance on a facility being defended by U.S. and Spanish soldiers, Sunday, April 4, 2004 in the Iraqi city of Najaf,. The Blackwater USA contractors were actively involved...
Plainclothes contractors working for Blackwater USA take part in a firefight as Iraqi demonstrators loyal to Muqtada Al Sadr attempt to advance on a facility being defended by U.S. and Spanish soldiers,...   (Associated Press)
IRAQ-UNREST-US-BLACKWATER
IRAQ-UNREST-US-BLACKWATER   (Getty Images)
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)
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice gestures during a news conference at the State Department in Washington in this Sept. 21, 2007 file photo. Rice on Friday, Oct. 5, 2007, ordered a major overhaul of U.S. diplomatic security practices in Iraq following an internal State Department review of the Blackwater...
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice gestures during a news conference at the State Department in Washington in this Sept. 21, 2007 file photo. Rice on Friday, Oct. 5, 2007, ordered a major overhaul of...   (Associated Press)
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More on concurrent investigations
BBC

Domestic anti-Blackwater sentiment
San Diego Union-Tribune

More on the Blackwater House hearings
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