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Blackwater Said To Fire 1st In Video

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By ROBERT H. REID, The Associated Press

Published: September 23, 2007

BAGHDAD - Iraqi investigators have a videotape that shows Blackwater USA guards opened fire against civilians without provocation in a shooting last week that left 11 people dead, a senior Iraqi official said Saturday.

He said that the case was referred to the Iraqi judiciary.

Meanwhile, Iraq's president demanded the Americans release an Iranian arrested last week on suspicion of smuggling weapons to Shiite militias.

The demand adds new strains to U.S.-Iraqi relations just days before a meeting between President Bush and Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf said that Iraqi authorities had completed an investigation into the Sept. 16 shooting in Nisoor Square in western Baghdad and concluded that the Blackwater guards were responsible for the deaths.

He said the conclusion was based on witness statements as well as videotape shot by cameras at the nearby national police command headquarters.

He said eight people were killed at the scene and three of 15 wounded died in hospitals.

Blackwater, which provides most of the security for U.S. diplomats and civilian officials in Iraq, has insisted its guards came under fire from armed insurgents and shot back only to defend themselves.

Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said Saturday that she knew nothing about the videotape and was contractually prohibited from discussing details of the shooting.

Khalaf also said the ministry was looking into six other fatal shootings involving the Moyock, N.C.-based company in which 10 Iraqis were killed and 15 wounded.

Among the shootings was one Feb. 7 outside Iraqi state television in Baghdad that killed three building guards.

'These six cases will support the case against Blackwater, because they show that it has a criminal record,' Khalaf said.

Khalaf said the report was 'sent to the judiciary.'

He would not specify whether that amounted to filing of criminal charges.

Under Iraqi law, an investigating judge reviews criminal complaints and decides whether there is enough evidence for a trial.

Ali al-Dabbagh, a government spokesman, denied that authorities had decided to file charges against the Blackwater guards and said Saturday that the no decision had been made whether to seek punishment.

'The necessary measures will be taken that will preserve the honor of the Iraqi people,' he said in New York, where al-Maliki arrived Friday for the U.N. General Assembly session, the spokesman said.

'We have ongoing high-level meetings with the U.S. side about this issue,' he said.

Al-Maliki is expected to raise the issue with Bush during a meeting Monday in New York.

It is doubtful that foreign security contractors could be prosecuted under Iraqi law.

A directive issued by U.S. occupation authorities in 2004 granted contractors, U.S. troops and many other foreign officials immunity from prosecution under Iraqi law.

Security contractors are not subject to U.S. military law under which U.S. troops face prosecution for killing or abusing Iraqis.

Iraqi officials have said after the Nisoor Square shooting they will press for amendments to the 2004 directive.

A senior aide to al-Maliki said Friday that three of the Blackwater guards were Iraqis and could be subject to prosecution. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.

After the Nisoor Square shooting, the Interior Ministry banned Blackwater from operating in Iraq but rolled back after the United States agreed to a joint investigation.

Blackwater resumed guarding a reduced number of U.S. convoys on Friday.

Also Saturday, the U.S. military announced the death of two more American soldiers - one of an unspecified non-combat related injury and another in a vehicle accident in Diyala province.

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