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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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February 29th,
2008 - Iraqi Shooting Witnesses Interviewed |
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Iraqi Shooting Witnesses
Interviewed By Sameer N. Yacoub Associated Press February 29, 2008 Baghdad - The Justice
Department appears to be gathering testimony from Iraqi witnesses for a
possible trial of Blackwater Worldwide security guards over a 2007 shooting
in Baghdad that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead. The witnesses were
interviewed by FBI agents and Justice Department attorneys who arrived in
Baghdad last week to re-examine evidence from the Sept. 16 shooting and determine
whether charges might be brought in U.S. courts. One Iraqi police officer,
who saw the shooting but like other policemen interviewed by The Associated
Press spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case,
said investigators asked repeatedly whether the Blackwater convoy was under
attack from gunmen before the guards opened fire on the intersection near
Baghdad's crowded Nisoor Square. The officer said he told the
FBI team there was no attack on the Blackwater convoy and the only shooting
was done by the Blackwater guards. He said investigators told
him that he and other primary witnesses might be asked to travel to the
United States to give their accounts to U.S. judges. The question of whether the
Blackwater convoy was fired upon is central to the investigation. Blackwater
says its guards were ambushed by insurgents after a downtown car bombing, an
account that is bolstered by a preliminary State Department report. Reports
by the U.S. military and the Iraqi government, however, found no evidence of
an ambush. Investigators hope the
Baghdad trip will help sort through the conflicting accounts. A senior police
official in the area who was familiar with the investigation said the U.S.
team was questioning one to two witnesses a day and examining forensic
evidence, including cars that were purportedly shot up in the incident. He said the Americans had
indicated they were trying to fill in gaps in their inquiry ahead of a trial. Another Iraqi policeman said
he was asked to describe in detail the events of Sept. 16. Since opening a grand jury
investigation in November, prosecutors have questioned about 30 U.S.
witnesses, including Blackwater security guards and managers, during
closed-door grand jury sessions in a Washington courthouse. The United States cannot compel
testimony from foreign nationals living abroad. The team of agents and
prosecutors was expected to return to Washington next week. The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad
said it would have no comment as the FBI investigation was being conducted
independently from the State Department. Blackwater and other
contractors operate in a legal gray area. Officials exempted contractors from
prosecution in Iraqi courts in 2004, but it's also unclear whether they can
be charged in the U.S. The father and husband of
two of the victims of the shooting said he had not been contacted by U.S.
investigators, but he would speak to them if summoned. "I am not satisfied
with the pace of the investigation. It has taken a very long time without
rendering any tangible results," said Haithem Ahmed, a 46-year-old
pathologist. "I hope that the FBI team will go after truth and give the
victims and their families justice and legal rights," he said. Ahmed's son, Ahmed Haithem
Ahmed, died after one of the Blackwater gunners opened fire on his
approaching white car, killing him instantly, witnesses said. The car with
its transmission still in gear continued moving slowly forward with his
mother, Mashasin Khazim, in the passenger seat, witnesses said. Witnesses said the guards
fired at the car again, killing Mashasin, and the continued heavy shooting
set the car on fire, burning the bodies of the mother and son. Iraqi witnesses spoke to
reporters and local police following the shooting, saying Blackwater
employees in the convoy were unprovoked when they opened fire. FBI agents reviewed reports
of those interviews but did not question the Iraqi witnesses themselves in
the agency's first trip to Baghdad two weeks after the shooting. Blackwater, based in Moyock,
N.C., is the largest of the State Department's three private security
contractors with nearly 1,000 people working in Iraq. Associated Press writer
Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad contributed to this report. Copyright © 2008 The
Associated Press. External link: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hmrLJfBttBSuJiT0K5tiQvlB47dAD8V48OT00 |