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Lawyer says contractors fired indiscriminately

An incident involving Blackwater USA in which at least 11 died is under scrutiny.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published September 21, 2007

BAGHDAD - Lawyer Hassan Jabir was stuck in traffic when he heard Blackwater USA security contractors shout "Go, go, go." Moments later, bullets pierced his back, he said Thursday from his hospital bed.

Jabir was among about a dozen people wounded Sunday during the shooting in west Baghdad's Mansour neighborhood. Iraqi police say at least 11 people were killed.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki described the shooting as a "crime" by Blackwater, a North Carolina company that guards American diplomats and civilian officials in Iraq.

"No one fired at them," Jabir said of the Blackwater guards. "No one attacked them, but they randomly fired at people. So many people died in the street."

Blackwater's operations have been suspended pending completion of a joint U.S.-Iraqi investigation. In the meantime, most U.S. diplomats and civilian officials are confined to the Green Zone or U.S. military bases unless they can travel by helicopter.

As Jabir posed for photographers in Yarmouk Hospital, an Interior Ministry official came by to register his name as a victim in connection with the investigation.

Jabir's account is among several versions the investigators hope to reconcile. Blackwater insists that its employees came under fire from armed insurgents and shot back to protect State Department employees.

A U.S. official in Washington who is familiar with information collected by investigators said the accounts given by witnesses are widely different. He spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is not over.

Jabir, whose left arm and chest were bandaged, said he was driving toward the Ministry of Justice when he found the road clogged with traffic. He saw several armored vehicles with armed guards on the roofs parked ahead of the traffic jam. Three black SUVs were behind them.

"After 20 minutes, the Americans told us to turn back," he said. "They shouted 'Go, go, go.' ... When we started turning back, the Americans began shooting heavily at us. The traffic policeman was the first person killed."

The shooting set off a panic, Jabir said, with men, women and children diving from their vehicles, trying desperately to crawl to safety.

"But many of them were killed," he said. "I saw a 10-year-old boy jump in fear from one of the minibuses. He was shot in his head. His mother jumped after him and was also killed."

Suddenly, Jabir felt two bullets strike his back - one pierced his left lung and the other lodged in his intestines.

"I kept on driving my car because if I left it, I would die," he said. "Then I was hit with two other bullets, one in my right hand and the second in my right shoulder just under the neck. ... I was rescued by Iraqi special forces" who rushed to the area.

"I swear to God that they were not exposed to any fire," Jabir said of the Blackwater guards. "They are criminals and thirst for blood."

U.S. officials have refused to discuss details of the shooting pending completion of the investigation.

President Bush told reporters in Washington that he expects to discuss the incident with Maliki during a meeting in New York next week on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly session.

"Folks like Blackwater who provide security for the State Department are under rules of engagement," Bush said. "They have certain rules. And this commission will determine whether they violated those rules."

According to the official in Washington, most of the Iraqi witnesses say Blackwater guards fired on a car that had acted suspiciously. The car then burst into flames and exploded, according to the Iraqi witnesses.

American witnesses maintain they were taking fire before the car approached, and fired back. Some insist the car exploded without being hit, the official said. That version suggests it was a car bomb.

[Last modified September 20, 2007, 23:54:42]