日批在线视频_内射毛片内射国产夫妻_亚洲三级小视频_在线观看亚洲大片短视频_女性向h片资源在线观看_亚洲最大网

   

Iraq: Blackwater guards fired unprovoked

(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-09-23 09:03

Baghdad - Iraqi investigators have a videotape that shows Blackwater USA guards opened fire against civilians without provocation in a shooting last week that left 11 people dead, a senior Iraqi official said Saturday. He said the case was referred to the Iraqi judiciary.

 
Hassan Jabir, 37, is surrounded by family as he recovers from gunshot wounds in a hospital in Baghdad, Iraq on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2007. [AP]


Iraq's president, meanwhile, demanded that the Americans release an Iranian arrested this week on suspicion of smuggling weapons to Shiite militias. The demand adds new strains to US-Iraqi relations only days before a meeting between President Bush and Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf said Iraqi authorities had completed an investigation into the Sept.16 shooting in Nisoor Square in western Baghdad and concluded that Blackwater guards were responsible for the deaths.

He said that the conclusion was based on witness statements as well as videotape shot by cameras at the nearby headquarters of the national police command. He said eight people were killed at the scene and three of the 15 wounded died in hospitals.

Blackwater, which provides most of the security for US diplomats and civilian officials in Iraq, has insisted that its guards came under fire from armed insurgents and shot back only to defend themselves.

Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said Saturday that she knew nothing about the videotape and was contractually prohibited from discussing details of the shooting.

Khalaf also said the ministry was looking into six other fatal shootings involving the Moyock, N.C.-based company in which 10 Iraqis were killed and 15 wounded. Among the shootings was one Feb. 7 outside Iraqi state television in Baghdad that killed three building guards.

"These six cases will support the case against Blackwater, because they show that it has a criminal record," Khalaf said.

Khalaf said the report was "sent to the judiciary" although he would not specify whether that amounted to filing of criminal charges. Under Iraqi law, an investigating judge reviews criminal complaints and decides whether there is enough evidence for a trial.

Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh denied that authorities had decided to file charges against the Blackwater guards and said Saturday that no decision had been taken whether to seek punishment.

"The necessary measures will be taken that will preserve the honor of the Iraqi people," he said in New York, where al-Maliki arrived Friday for the UN General Assembly session. "We have ongoing high-level meetings with the US side about this issue."

Al-Maliki is expected to raise the issue with Bush during a meeting Monday in New York.

It is doubtful that foreign security contractors could be prosecuted under Iraqi law. A directive issued by US occupation authorities in 2004 granted contractors, US troops and many other foreign officials immunity from prosecution under Iraqi law.

Security contractors are also not subject to US military law under which US troopers face prosecution for killing or abusing Iraqis.

Iraqi officials have said in the wake of the Nisoor Square shooting that they will press for amendments to the 2004 directive.

A senior aide to al-Maliki said Friday that three of the Blackwater guards were Iraqis and could be subject to prosecution. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.

Shortly after the Sept. 16 shooting, US officials said they "understood" that there was videotape, but refused to give more details. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not supposed to release information to the media.

Following the Nisoor Square shooting, the Interior Ministry banned Blackwater from operating in Iraq but rolled back after the US agreed to a joint investigation. The company resumed guarding a reduced number of US convoys on Friday.

The al-Maliki aide said Friday that the Iraqis were pushing for an apology, compensation for victims or their families and for the guards involved in the shooting to be held "accountable."

Hadi al-Amri, a prominent Shiite lawmaker and al-Maliki ally, also said an admission of wrongdoing, an apology and compensation offered a way out of the dilemma.

"They are always frightened and that's why they shoot at civilians," al-Amri said. "If Blackwater gets to stay in Iraq, it will have to give guarantees about its conduct."

Allegations against Blackwater have clouded relations between Iraq and the Americans at a time when the Bush administration is seeking to contain calls in Congress for sharp reductions in the 160,000-strong US military force.

Adding to those strains, President Jalal Talabani demanded the immediate release of an Iranian official detained Thursday by US forces in the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah.

The US military said the unidentified Iranian was a member of the Quds force - an elite unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

A statement issued Saturday by Talabani's office said the arrest was carried out without the prior knowledge or the cooperation of the Kurdish regional government.

"This amounts to an insult and a violation of its rights and authority," said the statement, quoting a letter Talabani sent to Gen. David Petraeus and US Ambassador Ryan Crocker. Talabani, a Kurd, is one of Washington's most reliable partners in Iraq.

Talabani said Iran had threatened to close the border with the Kurdish region if the official were not freed - a serious blow to the economy in the president's political stronghold.

"I want to express to you our dismay over the arrest by American forces of this official civilian Iranian guest," Talabani wrote to Petraeus and Crocker.

Five Iranians said to be linked to the Quds force were arrested in the Kurdish city of Irbil and remain in US custody.

Also Saturday, the US military announced the death of two more American soldiers - one of an unspecified non-combat related injury and another in a vehicle accident in Diyala province.



Top World News  
Today's Top News  
Most Commented/Read Stories in 48 Hours
主站蜘蛛池模板: 亚洲精品高清在线 | 伊人久久大香线蕉综合网站 | 91精品视频网站 | 亚洲午夜18毛片在线看 | 国产一区不卡在线 | 国产在线观看免费视频今夜 | 国产亚洲精品久久久久久 | 欧美区一区二 | 国产69精品久久久 | 另类综合视频 | 一区二区三区国产 | 成年免费视频黄网站在线观看 | 在线视频国产一区 | av网址在线看 | 在线观看污视频 | 国产精品久久久久一区二区三区 | 91国产一区二区 | 国产一区二区三区视频 | 尤物最新网址 | 国产视频第一页 | 国产黄色的视频 | 一区二区三区在线观看视频 | av免费播放网站 | 男人天堂av在线播放 | 在线观看国产精品入口男同 | 国产91av在线 | av资源 | 色吧五月天 | 欧美成人精品一级 | 青青草原伊人 | 国产一线二线在线观看 | 亚洲一区欧美二区 | 国产在线视频91 | 在线国产小视频 | 五月婷婷六月天 | 99国产精品久久 | 欧洲视频一区 | 四虎影视av | 欧美久久久久久久久中文字幕 | 国产一区二区免费视频 | 99国产在线观看 |