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November 21st,
2008 - Security Firms Told They Lose Immunity in Iraq: Official News article by Agence France
Presse |
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Security Firms
Told They Lose Immunity in Iraq: Official By Agence France Presse November 21, 2008 Washington - US officials on
Thursday told scores of firms offering security in Iraq that their personnel
will lose immunity from prosecution under a new US-Iraq security pact due to
take effect in January. The officials told reporters
that they briefed delegates from 172 security contractors employing nearly
175,000 Americans, Iraqis and others in Iraq about the new rules under a pact
set to replace a UN mandate expiring December 31. Security firms heard how
many rules and procedures for troops and contractors were "rightfully
changed as a result of this historic development," the officials told
reporters, quoting from a statement they read to the firms. The firms provide armed
escorts and other security measures to US and Iraqi government officials, as
well as foreign diplomats and members of non-government organizations like
aid groups. Under the changes,
contractors "can no longer expect that they will enjoy the wide ranging
immunity from Iraqi law that has been in effect since 2003," when US-led
forces invaded Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein, according to the statement. The firms were reminded that
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and other Iraqi political leaders have said
publicly that "they plan to take the legal steps necessary to remove
these immunities at an early date," the statement said. Contractors "can expect
to be fully subject to Iraqi criminal and civil law and to procedures of the
Iraqi judicial system," it said, adding their status will be in line
with that of contractors in Afghanistan and other countries. The US embassy in Baghdad
will work with the Iraqi government to help ensure that any US government
contractor "accused of a crime is treated fairly," the statement
said. The official draft of the
Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which has still to be approved by the
Iraqi parliament, has not yet been made public. A Department of Defense
official told reporters that he was not aware of any security firm wishing to
leave Iraq over the loss of immunity. "We have had for months
informal discussions," the official said on the condition of anonymity. "Some of our
contractors expressed concerns ... None of them, to my knowledge ... have
made the explicit statement if 'I loose immunity, I will walk,'" the
official said. "I would suspect there
is a wait and see attitude, to see how this in fact plays out," the
official added. The lifting of immunity was
expected since 17 Iraqi civilians died in Baghdad in September last year when
guards escorting a diplomatic convoy on behalf of private security firm
Blackwater USA opened fire at a crossroads. The firm says its guards
were acting in self-defense. There are more security
contractors than there are US troops, which currently number around 150,000
men and women. The Defense Department says
it employs 163,000 contractors in Iraq, with 17 percent of them US citizens,
49 percent of them Iraqi and the rest from other countries. The State Department says it
employs 5,500 contractors, the vast majority of them US citizens, while the
US Agency for International Development employs 4,800 security personnel. Copyright © 2008 AFP. All
rights reserved. External link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g3mCgxP0haLDPHc_5IsjD5L9CecA |