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Report says Iraq wants Blackwater out within 6 months

By Times Wires
Published October 15, 2007

BAGHDAD - The Iraqi government has demanded that Blackwater USA, the private security firm that guards top U.S. diplomats in Iraq, be expelled from the country within six months and pay $8-million in compensation to the family of every civilian its employees are accused of killing last month, Iraqi officials said.

The demands were contained in a report prepared by Iraqi investigators probing the shooting in downtown Baghdad, in which they said 17 Iraqis were killed after Blackwater guards opened fire without provocation. The findings were described by Iraqi officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Sept. 16 incident sparked widespread outrage across Iraq and prompted heightened scrutiny here and in the United States of shootings by foreign security firms that have left scores of Iraqis dead.

Anne Tyrrell, a spokeswoman for Blackwater, said she had not seen the report and hoped no decisions would be made until an investigation by the FBI has been completed. The company has said its guards opened fire after they came under attack.

Also Sunday

Violence: A bomb in a parked car struck worshipers heading to a Shiite mosque in Baghdad, killing at least nine people, while a coordinated suicide truck bombing and ambush in Samara killed at least 18.

U.S. deaths: One U.S. soldier was killed by a roadside bomb during combat operations in southern Baghdad and another died in a noncombat-related incident in the northern Ninevah province, the military said.

Reconciliation: In a major reconciliatory gesture, a leader from Iraq's largest Shiite party, Ammar al-Hakim, paid a rare visit to the Sunni Anbar province, delivering a message of unity to tribal sheiks who have staged a U.S.-backed revolt against al-Qaida militants.

Journalist slain: Iraqi journalist Salih Saif Aldin, 32, who wrote under the name Salih Dehema, was shot while on assignment for the Washington Post in Baghdad.

Papal appeal: Pope Benedict XVI made a public appeal in Rome for the release of two Catholic priests kidnapped Saturday on their way home from a funeral in northern Iraq.

[Last modified October 14, 2007, 23:33:03]