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State Department Chief Quits Amid Scandal

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The Associated Press

Published: October 25, 2007

WASHINGTON - The State Department's embattled security chief resigned on Wednesday as the scandal over last month's deadly Blackwater USA shooting of 17 Iraqis in Baghdad claimed its first political casualty.

The resignation came amid growing questions about the use of private contractors to protect diplomats in Iraq.

Richard Griffin, assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, made no mention of the furor in his resignation letter to President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. His decision to step down came at a time when the department is facing withering Iraqi and congressional criticism for security practices.

It also followed by a day the release of a report commissioned by Rice that found serious lapses in the department's oversight of private guards, who are employed by Griffin's bureau and report to it.

Rice accepted the resignation, which is effective Nov. 1, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. Griffin will be replaced on an acting basis by a deputy, Gregory Starr, McCormack said.

His brief resignation letter praised the 'brave men and women' of Diplomatic Security but said only that he was leaving to 'move on to new challenges,' according to a copy provided to The Associated Press.

Earlier Wednesday in Baghdad, the Iraqi cabinet upheld findings of an official investigation of the incident that found guards opened fire without provocation. Blackwater disputes this, saying the U.S. Embassy convoy it was protecting was attacked first.

The Iraqi cabinet also renewed calls for Blackwater's expulsion from Iraq and said it would look into repealing a 2004 directive that gives private contractors virtual immunity from prosecution.

The U.S. Embassy began offering tens of thousands of dollars in payments to victims of shootings.

Family members of several victims turned down the compensation out of concern that acceptance of money would limit future claims against the North Carolina-based security firm and its chief executive, Erik Prince. Others said that the money being offered - in some cases $12,500 for a death - was paltry and that they wanted to sue Blackwater in a U.S. court.

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