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Iraq reserves right to hold Blackwater trial
BAGHDAD (AFP) — Iraq on Sunday said it reserves the right to put on trial six guards working for private security firm Blackwater USA for their alleged role in the killing of 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad last year.
“There is information that half a dozen Blackwater guards who have been accused of shooting and killing 17 Iraqis are to be tried in Washington,” government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told reporters.
“The Iraqi government stresses its rights and that Blackwater guards have committed crimes against Iraqi victims. The government reserves the right to prosecute them,” he said.
Last September 16, Blackwater guards shot dead 17 Iraqi civilians while escorting an American diplomatic convoy through Baghdad. The firm says its guards were acting in self-defence.
Dabbagh’s commment came after the Washington Post reported on Saturday that six Blackwater guards had received “target letters” from the US Justice Department in a probe of the shootings.
Such letters are often considered a prelude to indictment, the report said, adding that the guards were former US military personnel.
The report said any charges against the men would likely be brought under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, which has previously been used to prosecute only the cases referred to the Justice Department by the Pentagon for crimes committed by military personnel and contractors overseas.
Despite strong opposition, the US Department of State earlier this year renewed a contract with Blackwater to protect American officials in Iraq.
Foreign security companies are currently not subject to Iraq law, but they are not governed by US military tribunals either, effectively allowing them to operate with impunity.
Among the sticking points in complex negotiations aimed at striking a new US-Iraqi security deal has been the issue of whether and what immunity US troops should continue to have.
Dabbagh reiterated Iraq’s position that security companies’ guards would not be exempt from prosecution.
“The Iraqi government will not allow any security company to have immunity in Iraq,” he said.
Baghdad and Washington are still negotiating an agreement that would govern US troop levels and allow them to operate in the country after a UN mandate expires at the end of the year.
US President George W. Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki agreed in principle last November to sign a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) by the end of July, but controversy has delayed the arrangement.
Iraqis fiercely oppose a large American troop presence on their soil, but at the same time want a guarantee that Washington will defend the country from foreign invasion.
The proposed pact has drawn sharp criticism from Iraq’s various political factions, especially from anti-American cleric Moqtada Sadr, a Shiite who demands a deadline for US troops.
Sadr, whose 60,000-strong Mahdi Army has battled US forces numerous times, said he was willing to demilitarise the militia if a security pact between Baghdad and Washington provides for an American withdrawal.
The White House has so far refused to commit to a fixed date for withdrawing US combat troops, but has suggested a series of target dates for giving Iraqis control over security in different parts of the war-torn country.
About 142,500 American troops remain in Iraq, and the issue is increasingly politically sensitive in Washington as the November US presidential election draws near.