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The War Profiteers - War Crimes, Kidnappings,
Torture and Big Money |
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June 10th,
2008 - Immunity for Private Guards in Iraq a Sticking Point: US |
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Immunity for Private Guards
in Iraq a Sticking Point: US By Agence France Presse June 10, 2008 Baghdad - Immunity from
Iraqi law for foreign private guards is a sticking point in the deal between
Washington and Baghdad over long-term US troop presence in the country, a top
US official said Tuesday. "The issue of
contractors including (foreign) security contractors is a sensitive one, is a
significant one," David Satterfield, the US State Department's top Iraq
adviser told reporters in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone. "There are outstanding
issues, obviously, including issues focused on the security side." The presence of tens of
thousands of foreign private security contractors has been heavily
criticised, especially after last year's brutal massacre of 17 Iraqis in
Baghdad by Blackwater company which offers protection to US officials in Iraq. These contractors, however,
enjoy immunity from Iraqi law. The contract of Blackwater was also recently
renewed for another year. Negotiations for a long-term
US military presence in Iraq come amid strong criticism from Baghdad and
former foe turned friend Tehran over the details of the deal which aims to
maintain American soldiers in the country beyond 2008. Iraqi media reports have
suggested the United States is seeking to keep as many as 50 military bases
indefinitely in Iraq, control the nation's air space, and grant its troops
and foreign private contractors continuing immunity from prosecution under
Iraqi law. American diplomats and
military officials have vehemently denied that Washington wants to create
"permanent" bases and insist that the pact is no threat to any of
Iraq's neighbours including Iran, the US's arch enemy. "We will do nothing in
these negotiations that in any way could harm or weaken the Iraqi government.
We will do nothing in these negotiations that is not ultimately fully
transparent," insisted Satterfield. "(The negotiations) are
not based upon pressure, they are not negotiations based upon dictate by the
United States, there are no demands in these negotiations. They are
discussions designed to produce a meaningful partnership." Iraqi politicians -
supporters and opponents of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki - are unconvinced,
and have expressed fear that Iraqi sovereignty could be compromised under
such a framework. Iraq went so far last week
as to say it had a "different vision" from the US on the issue,
while Maliki on his official three-day visit to Tehran that ended Monday also
sought to reassure the leaders of majority Shiite Iran. "We will not allow Iraq
to become a platform for harming the security of Iran and neighbours,"
Maliki said in Tehran. But Iranian supreme leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told Maliki that the continued presence of US troops
was Iraq's "fundamental problem." US President George W. Bush
and Maliki agreed in principle last November to sign a Status of Forces
Agreement (SOFA) by the end of July. More than five years after
the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, there are still around 150,000 US troops
deployed in Iraq, even after the ongoing drawdown of the additional personnel
sent out under the controversial surge policy announced in February last
year. Copyright © 2008 AFP. External link: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iE-aCFgYt5GFlJVlekw1q198JB1Q |