Finally!
US resumes Blackwater convoys in Iraq
By KATARINA KRATOVAC, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 27 minutes ago
American convoys under the protection of Blackwater USA resumed on Friday, four days after the U.S. Embassy suspended all land travel by its diplomats and other civilian officials in response to the alleged killing of civilians by the security firm.
A top aide to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had earlier conceded it may prove difficult for the Iraqi government to follow through on threats to expel Blackwater and other Western security contractors.
The aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation into Sunday's shooting was ongoing, said a way out of the Blackwater crisis could be the payment of compensation to victims' families and an agreement from all sides on a new set of rules for their operations in Iraq.
U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo said the decision to resume land travel outside the heavily fortified Green Zone was made after consultations with the Iraqi governments. She said the convoys will be limited to essential missions.
Nantongo declined to comment on an Interior Ministry report that officials said concluded that Blackwater guards opened fire Sunday from four positions on a square in western Baghdad after a vehicle near their convoy failed to stop.
"We're waiting for the results of the investigation, which we are conducting as quickly as we can," she said.
The U.S. ban announced Tuesday had confined most American officials to the Green Zone, a 3 1/2-square-mile area in the center of the city that houses the American Embassy and thousands of U.S. soldiers and contractors.
The decision kept them from visiting U.S.-funded construction sites or Iraqi officials elsewhere in the country except by helicopter — an indication of how dependent the State Department is on Blackwater protection.
Blackwater has said its employees acted "lawfully and appropriately" in response to an armed attack against a State Department convoy. Several Iraqi witnesses and officials claimed the security guards were the first to open fire.
U.S. and Iraqi officials have formed a joint committee to probe the widely differing accounts.
Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf said a report found that the security guards opened fire first on Iraqi drivers.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070921/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_ylt=Aq.9l1dxG8CIZyNJ9SNiwU6s0NUE
US resumes Blackwater convoys in Iraq
By KATARINA KRATOVAC, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 27 minutes ago
American convoys under the protection of Blackwater USA resumed on Friday, four days after the U.S. Embassy suspended all land travel by its diplomats and other civilian officials in response to the alleged killing of civilians by the security firm.
A top aide to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had earlier conceded it may prove difficult for the Iraqi government to follow through on threats to expel Blackwater and other Western security contractors.
The aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation into Sunday's shooting was ongoing, said a way out of the Blackwater crisis could be the payment of compensation to victims' families and an agreement from all sides on a new set of rules for their operations in Iraq.
U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo said the decision to resume land travel outside the heavily fortified Green Zone was made after consultations with the Iraqi governments. She said the convoys will be limited to essential missions.
Nantongo declined to comment on an Interior Ministry report that officials said concluded that Blackwater guards opened fire Sunday from four positions on a square in western Baghdad after a vehicle near their convoy failed to stop.
"We're waiting for the results of the investigation, which we are conducting as quickly as we can," she said.
The U.S. ban announced Tuesday had confined most American officials to the Green Zone, a 3 1/2-square-mile area in the center of the city that houses the American Embassy and thousands of U.S. soldiers and contractors.
The decision kept them from visiting U.S.-funded construction sites or Iraqi officials elsewhere in the country except by helicopter — an indication of how dependent the State Department is on Blackwater protection.
Blackwater has said its employees acted "lawfully and appropriately" in response to an armed attack against a State Department convoy. Several Iraqi witnesses and officials claimed the security guards were the first to open fire.
U.S. and Iraqi officials have formed a joint committee to probe the widely differing accounts.
Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf said a report found that the security guards opened fire first on Iraqi drivers.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070921/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_ylt=Aq.9l1dxG8CIZyNJ9SNiwU6s0NUE