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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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May 6th,
2009 - Informants Allege Proposed Blackwater Weapons Dump |
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Informants Allege
Proposed Blackwater Weapons Dump By Mike Baker Associated Press May 6, 2009 Raleigh, N.C. - A defense
contractor charged with trying to smuggle firearms out of Iraq claimed
Blackwater guards asked him to help get rid of weapons after a deadly 2007
shooting in Baghdad, two government informants say in court documents. The contractor told one of
the informants that Blackwater guards wanted to dispose of the weapons before
an investigation into the September 2007 shooting that left several civilians
dead, according to a criminal complaint filed in the smuggling case. The
contractor, John Houston, did not work for Blackwater. Both informants, whose names
weren't revealed by federal investigators, were Army reservists stationed in
Iraq. Houston approached them for help with smuggling, the complaint states,
and one of them tipped off investigators about the scheme. Five Blackwater guards face
manslaughter and weapons charges in the shooting, which prosecutors say was
an unprovoked attack on civilians. The shooting strained relations between
Baghdad and Washington and led Iraqi leaders to order Blackwater out of the country. A spokeswoman said the North
Carolina-based company, now known as Xe, only recently learned of Houston's
claims and has never been contacted by investigators about them. "This individual's
claims may make for a juicy story, but time may tell a more truthful
one," spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said in a release. Houston, a retired Special
Forces soldier, was indicted last week in federal court in Maryland on a
charge of conspiracy to smuggle firearms into the United States and attempted
smuggling. Houston was working with New York-based SOS International Ltd. at
the time of the 2007 shooting but left the company a year later to work for
another defense contractor. A second man, Michael
Henson, was charged with the same attempted smuggling counts and making false
statements. Court documents do not describe Henson's employer or role in
Iraq. An attorney for Houston did
not return a call seeking comment, and court documents didn't list an
attorney for Henson. Court documents say Houston
offered to ship weapons for Henson to Fort Bragg, N.C., and asked Henson to
pick up the weapons when they arrived. Houston told one informant
that Blackwater guards gave him firearms after the Nisoor Square shooting,
and Houston asked the reservist to ship the weapons to the United States,
court documents say. In return, the informant could keep two guns, but the
person instead reported the matter to military investigators. Houston told the second
informant that "after Blackwater 'got into trouble,' they had to get rid
of the firearms so that they didn't get caught with them," court
documents say. It's not clear, though,
whether the weapons Houston discussed with the informants were used in the
shooting, or if they could have been confiscated firearms. Houston told both
informants that Blackwater employees had filled a shipping container with
firearms they seized from Iraqi insurgents, a possible violation of company
policy. After they were tipped off,
investigators seized eight machine guns and a pistol from an Iraq base that
they say Houston intended to smuggle. At that point, Houston claimed he had
asked one of the informants to hand the weapons over to authorities. Two of the firearms seized
were AK-47 style rifles - a type favored by insurgents but likely not allowed
for use by Blackwater contractors. "The company has strict
policies and procedures in place regarding the possession of firearms by its
contractors overseas and they are prohibited from possessing any other than
those issued to them by the company or the U.S. government," Tyrrell
said. Copyright © 2009 The
Associated Press. External link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g4OiK8Bkks3epqQ-eXeiSGX6cu7gD980U0JO0 |