US halts diplomatic convoys from Iraq's Green Zone

19 Sep 2007 01:50:33 GMT
Source: Reuters


WASHINGTON, Sept 18 (Reuters) - The United States has barred diplomats and civilians from leaving Baghdad's heavily fortified "Green Zone" after a shooting involving the Blackwater security firm that drew protests from Iraq and prompted investigations, a U.S. official said on Tuesday.

Separately, the United States and Iraq plan to conduct a joint investigation of Sunday's incident involving Blackwater guards in which 11 people were shot dead, American officials said.

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said the Blackwater guards were reacting to a car bomb that went off near an official convoy. According to other accounts, however, the Blackwater guards fired randomly after mortar rounds landed near their motorcade.

The Green Zone houses the U.S. Embassy as well as many Iraqi ministries and senior officials who are largely protected from the daily violence in other parts of the Iraqi capital.

One U.S. official said the decision to suspend civilian convoys from leaving the area was to permit a review of security procedures after the Blackwater incident.

"Basically, they did a temporary stand-down of land convoy travel outside the Green Zone because we had a terrible incident here," he said on condition of anonymity. "One of the things that makes sense under any circumstances is to stop ... and look at our procedures."

The official said the decision only affected non-military convoys that carry U.S. diplomats and civilian officials.

The Blackwater incident has angered Iraqis, many of whom believe that the estimated tens of thousands of private American security guards in their country act with impunity.

U.S. officials said they expect to announce the plan to conduct a joint inquiry on Wednesday, changing their initial decision to have the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security look into the incident on its own.

"We want this to be a cooperative process and, ultimately, what's important here is that we and the Iraqis feel that we have a common set of facts to work from," said one official.

Additionally, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates directed his staff to calculate the department's use of and reliance on private security contractors and determine what rules guide contractor conduct and operations, according to Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell. The department was expected to gather that data by Wednesday.
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U.S. curbs road travel for its officials in Iraq19 Sep 2007 10:33:27 GMT
Source: Reuters


By Waleed Ibrahim and Dean Yates

BAGHDAD, Sept 19 (Reuters) - U.S. civilian officials have been barred from road travel in Iraq outside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone because of possible attacks after a deadly shooting involving American security firm Blackwater.

Iraq has said it would review the status of all security firms after what it called a "flagrant assault" by Blackwater contractors in which 11 people were killed while the firm was escorting an embassy convoy through Baghdad on Sunday.

In a statement seen by Reuters on Wednesday and sent to Americans in Iraq, the U.S. embassy in Baghdad said the temporary ban was imposed to reassess security procedures.

"In light of the serious security incident involving a U.S. embassy protection detail ... the embassy has suspended official U.S. government civilian ground movements outside the International Zone (IZ) and throughout Iraq," it said.

"This suspension is in effect in order to assess mission security and procedures, as well as to assess a possible increased threat to personnel travelling with security details outside the International Zone."

The sprawling International Zone, also known as the Green Zone, houses the U.S and other Western embassies as well as many Iraqi government ministries.

The order barring U.S. civilians and diplomats from leaving the compound further isolates American officials from Iraqis amid already tight curbs on movement because of security fears.

Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said on Tuesday the cabinet had backed an Interior Ministry decision to "halt the licence" of Blackwater and launch an investigation.

The Interior Ministry has said the incident was sparked when Blackwater contractors opened fire indiscriminately after mortar rounds landed near to their convoy in western Baghdad on Sunday.

Blackwater, one of the biggest private security operators in Iraq, said its guards reacted "lawfully and appropriately" to a hostile attack.

The Iraqi and U.S. governments have set up a joint committee to investigate the killings.

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

Iraqi national security adviser Mowaffaq al-Rubaie told a news conference the review of security firms in Iraq would examine their rules of engagement and also an earlier regulation that gave such firms immunity from Iraqi law.

He said there were more than 180 security companies in Iraq. Estimates of the number of security contractors employed by mainly U.S. and European firms range from 25,000 to 48,000.

"This gives us an opportunity to review the methods and work of these companies, especially what rules of engagement these companies work by," Rubaie said.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, speaking to reporters en route to Israel, said she discussed the incident with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki by telephone on Monday.

"I committed to him that we were as interested as the Iraqi government in having a full investigation into what happened, a transparent investigation into what happened and to working with the Iraqi government to make certain that this sort of thing doesn't happen," she said.

Iraq's military said contractors working for Blackwater "indiscriminately opened fire at civilians" on Sunday.

Brigadier-General Qassim al-Moussawi, a spokesman, said the Interior Ministry had "suspended the work of the Blackwater company inside Iraq and would take legal procedures against it".
Many Iraqis see security contractors as private armies that act with impunity. (Additional reporting by Ahmed Rasheed and Aseel Kami)
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RPT-FEATURE-Shooting shines light on world of Iraq security19 Sep 2007 06:58:52 GMT
Source: Reuters


By Paul Tait

BAGHDAD, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Their helicopters buzz through the Baghdad sky, their patrols bristle with the latest weaponry and their armoured vehicles carry the latest hi-tech gadgets.

It's not the U.S. military but another lethal fighting force in Iraq -- private security contractors.

Iraq has vowed to review all local and foreign security contractors, described by critics as mercenaries who act with impunity, after a shooting incident involving U.S. firm Blackwater on Sunday in which 11 people were killed.

It said it will revoke the licence of the high-profile Blackwater and prosecute those involved in the incident.

But the government might find it difficult to prosecute the case, and even harder to revoke Blackwater's licence because it most probably does not have a current one.

Blackwater said its employees reacted "lawfully and appropriately" to a hostile attack. .The Iraqi Interior Ministry says 11 people were killed when Blackwater contractors fired randomly after mortar rounds landed near their convoy.

Security sources in Baghdad say they operate in a murky world of little regulation where few companies hold up-to-date licences and many bribe their way into work.

The workings of security contractors in Iraq are so unclear that the State Department, whom Blackwater protects in Iraq, was still unable to say more than 48 hours after Sunday's incident whether the company holds a legitimate licence.

The U.S. embassy also could not answer questions about the legal status of security contractors, and whether any possible proceedings would be prosecuted under Iraqi or U.S. law.

"TOP COVER"

Based in North Carolina, Blackwater was founded in 1997 by former U.S. Navy SEAL Erik Prince and says it works in two main areas: training and protection.

It says on its Web site (www.blackwaterusa.com) that its vision is to "support security, peace, freedom, and democracy everywhere".

It employs about 1,000 people in Iraq and has an immediately visible presence, its small helicopters buzzing in circles as they provide "top cover" whenever U.S. embassy officials travel around the capital.

Estimates of the number of security contractors employed by mainly U.S. and European firms range between 25,000 and 48,000 in what can appear like multinational militias.

Peruvians man checkpoints around Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone. Fijians in blue helmets guard the U.N. compound.

Australian, English and New Zealand accents abound, many of them former special forces soldiers who learned their martial skills for a fraction of their current wages.

Some security companies try to keep low profiles, but Iraqis have long complained about the heavy-handed approach of others whose convoys of armoured vehicles muscle their way through traffic and shoot at cars which come too close.

Private security industry representatives in Britain said the Blackwater episode highlighted ambiguities in the status of security contractors and a need to update laws governing them.

Security firms still operate under memorandum 17 of the Coalition Provisional Authority, written in 2004, which makes foreign security contractors immune from Iraqi law.

"Circumstances in Iraq have changed drastically since then," said Andy Bearpark, head of the British Association of Private Security Companies.

"We would still wish certain elements of immunity to be maintained. The Iraqi (legal) system is simply not robust enough at the moment to allow for them to be removed," he said.

One Baghdad security source said: "They're operating under Iraqi law but there are so many loopholes in it."

GOVERNMENT POLICY UNCLEAR

Other security sources, who asked not to be named, said few foreign security companies hold current licences, most simply not bothering to renew their one-year permit after landmark 2005 elections because the new government's policy was unclear.

Companies wanting to work in Iraq must register with the ministries of trade and the interior, lodging documentation for personnel, vehicles, weapons, training, fire and safety and first aid, and pay a bond of between $20,000 and $55,000.

David Claridge, managing director of London-based Janusian Security Risk Management which employs about 1,000 mostly Iraqi staff, said the rules on licensing private security companies (PSCs) had not been consistently applied.

"You have to apply those rules evenly. Otherwise it does introduce a level of uncertainty ... and create a sense that some people are totally immune and can behave as they wish and others not," he told Reuters in London.

Claridge and several Baghdad security sources said it was widely known Blackwater was operating without a licence because they worked under the protection of the U.S. embassy.

"From our perspective, it's unwanted attention and unwanted bad publicity for our industry as a whole but we don't consider ourselves to be in the same group as Blackwater," Claridge said.

But many believe Blackwater will survive the incident relatively unscathed, mainly because of its close ties to the State Department.

"Smart money says that Blackwater is in Iraq for the duration," said security author and blogger R J Hillhouse (www.thespywhobilledme.com). (Additional reporting by Mark Trevelyan in London)