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By Joshua Partlow and Megan Greenwell
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, September 17, 2007; 2:14 PM
BAGHDAD, Sept. 17 -- The Iraqi government said today it has revoked the license of Blackwater USA, a private security company that guards U.S. Embassy personnel in Iraq, following a shootout in downtown Baghdad on Sunday that left at least nine people dead.
Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul-Karim Khalaf called the episode the "last and the biggest mistake" committed by Blackwater, whose black sports utility vehicles and agile "Little Bird" helicopters escort diplomatic convoys throughout Baghdad.
He said the decision of the Iraqi government meant that Blackwater "cannot work in Iraq any longer, it will be illegal for them to work here."
"Security contracts do not allow them to shoot people randomly," Brig. Gen. Khalaf said. "They are here to protect personnel, not shoot people without reason."
Phone calls and e-mails to a Blackwater spokeswoman were not immediately returned.
The Iraqi government's position toward Blackwater set up a confrontation with the U.S. government over what legal authority governs the behavior of private security contractors here. Blackwater, which has an estimated 1,000 employees in Iraq, plays a high-profile role because it guards U.S. Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker and other diplomats. The company has faced criticism in the past for violent incidents in Iraq.
The shooting on Sunday started when a car bomb exploded near a State Department motorcade in the Mansour district of western Baghdad. In response to the explosion, Blackwater employees opened fire, U.S. Embassy officials said. The shooting killed at least nine people and wounded 14 others, according to police and hospital officials. Khalaf put the death toll at 11 people.
Embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo said the embassy discussed the incident with the Iraqi government, but she added that few details would be available while it was under investigation.
"We are taking it very seriously indeed," she said. "We certainly regret any loss of life associated with this incident."
Embassy officials would not say whether Blackwater had suspended its work in Baghdad after the Interior Ministry's decision. W. Johann Schmonsees, another embassy spokesman, said, "No one has been expelled from the country yet."
It was not immediately clear whether Iraq or the United States holds the authority to regulate Blackwater's operations. A regulation known as Order 17 established under the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority headed by L. Paul Bremer effectively granted immunity to American private security contractors from being prosecuted in Iraqi courts.
Another CPA memorandum requires private security companies to register with the Interior Ministry, but some of the companies in Iraq operate without doing so.
Lawrence T. Peter, director of the Private Security Company Association of Iraq, said Blackwater was licensed by the Interior Ministry. But Blackwater acknowledged as recently as two months ago that a license it obtained in 2005 had lapsed, and the company was having trouble getting the license renewed.
"Many Iraqis have come to me and complained bitterly to me about CPA Order 17, I understand that," said Peter. "But the fact that you complain bitterly doesn't mean you can wave a magic wand and change it."
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, September 17, 2007; 2:14 PM
BAGHDAD, Sept. 17 -- The Iraqi government said today it has revoked the license of Blackwater USA, a private security company that guards U.S. Embassy personnel in Iraq, following a shootout in downtown Baghdad on Sunday that left at least nine people dead.
Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul-Karim Khalaf called the episode the "last and the biggest mistake" committed by Blackwater, whose black sports utility vehicles and agile "Little Bird" helicopters escort diplomatic convoys throughout Baghdad.
He said the decision of the Iraqi government meant that Blackwater "cannot work in Iraq any longer, it will be illegal for them to work here."
"Security contracts do not allow them to shoot people randomly," Brig. Gen. Khalaf said. "They are here to protect personnel, not shoot people without reason."
Phone calls and e-mails to a Blackwater spokeswoman were not immediately returned.
The Iraqi government's position toward Blackwater set up a confrontation with the U.S. government over what legal authority governs the behavior of private security contractors here. Blackwater, which has an estimated 1,000 employees in Iraq, plays a high-profile role because it guards U.S. Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker and other diplomats. The company has faced criticism in the past for violent incidents in Iraq.
The shooting on Sunday started when a car bomb exploded near a State Department motorcade in the Mansour district of western Baghdad. In response to the explosion, Blackwater employees opened fire, U.S. Embassy officials said. The shooting killed at least nine people and wounded 14 others, according to police and hospital officials. Khalaf put the death toll at 11 people.
Embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo said the embassy discussed the incident with the Iraqi government, but she added that few details would be available while it was under investigation.
"We are taking it very seriously indeed," she said. "We certainly regret any loss of life associated with this incident."
Embassy officials would not say whether Blackwater had suspended its work in Baghdad after the Interior Ministry's decision. W. Johann Schmonsees, another embassy spokesman, said, "No one has been expelled from the country yet."
It was not immediately clear whether Iraq or the United States holds the authority to regulate Blackwater's operations. A regulation known as Order 17 established under the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority headed by L. Paul Bremer effectively granted immunity to American private security contractors from being prosecuted in Iraqi courts.
Another CPA memorandum requires private security companies to register with the Interior Ministry, but some of the companies in Iraq operate without doing so.
Lawrence T. Peter, director of the Private Security Company Association of Iraq, said Blackwater was licensed by the Interior Ministry. But Blackwater acknowledged as recently as two months ago that a license it obtained in 2005 had lapsed, and the company was having trouble getting the license renewed.
"Many Iraqis have come to me and complained bitterly to me about CPA Order 17, I understand that," said Peter. "But the fact that you complain bitterly doesn't mean you can wave a magic wand and change it."
