Blackwater Owes $136M: Iraq

Demands firm pay millions to victims
By Caroline Zimmerman,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 8, 2007 8:32 PM CDT
Blackwater Owes $136M: Iraq
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...   (Associated Press)

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." (More Blackwater stories.)

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