Apr 4, 2008 6:18 pm US/Eastern
State Dept. To Renew Blackwater's Iraq Contract
WASHINGTON (AP) ―
The
State Department says it will renew Blackwater USA's license to protect
diplomats in Baghdad for one year, but a final decision about whether the
private security company will keep the job is pending.
A
top State Department official said that because the FBI is still investigating
last year's fatal shooting of Baghdad
civilians, there is no reason not to renew the contract when it comes due in
May. Blackwater has a five-year deal to provide personal protection for
diplomats, which is reauthorized each year.
Iraqis
were outraged over a Sept. 16 shooting in which 17 civilians were killed in a Baghdad square. Blackwater
said its guards were protecting diplomats under attack before they opened fire,
but Iraqi investigators concluded the shooting was unprovoked.
Blackwater repaired and repainted one of its trucks immediately after the shooting, making it difficult to determine whether enemy gunfire provoked it, according to people familiar with the government's investigation of the incident.
U.S. military investigators initially found "no enemy activity
involved" and the Iraqi government concluded the shootings were
unprovoked. The shooting strained U.S. relations
with the Iraqi government, which wants Blackwater expelled from the
country.
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
