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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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July 2nd,
2009 - Lawsuit now Accuses Xe Contractors of Murder, Kidnapping |
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Lawsuit now Accuses Xe Contractors
of Murder, Kidnapping By Bill Sizemore The Virginian-Pilot July 2, 2009 A just-amended lawsuit
alleges six additional instances of unprovoked attacks on Iraqi civilians by
Blackwater contractors. Three people, including a
9-year-old boy, are said to have died. Also added to the suit is a
racketeering count accusing Blackwater founder Erik Prince of running an
ongoing criminal enterprise involved in, among other things, kidnapping and
child prostitution. The latest charges, filed
this week in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, bring to more than 60 the
number of Iraqis allegedly killed or wounded since 2005 by armed Blackwater
contractors guarding U.S. diplomatic personnel in Iraq. The Moyock, N.C.-based
security company, since renamed Xe, earned more than $1 billion under that
contract before the State Department, under pressure from the Iraqi
government, let it lapse in May. One of the new plaintiffs is
the estate of Akram Khalid Sa'ed Jasim, 9, who died when Blackwater shooters
allegedly opened fire on a minivan returning from the Baghdad airport on July
1, 2007. The boy was traveling with his extended family, who had gone to the
airport to apply for passports. The Blackwater guards also
shot the boy's mother in the back as she bent over trying to shield her
3-month-old daughter, who nevertheless was shot in the face, according to the
lawsuit. The boy's father, uncle and cousin also were wounded. The racketeering count added
to the suit this week accuses Prince's companies of engaging in murder,
weapons smuggling, money laundering, tax evasion, kidnapping, child
prostitution, illegal drug use and destruction of evidence. The companies are accused of
carrying out three or more kidnappings using three airplanes, identified in
the suit by their tail numbers. Susan Burke, the plaintiffs' lawyer, said
Wednesday that the kidnappings appear to have been so-called
"extraordinary renditions" in which suspects are taken to other
countries for interrogation. The child prostitution
charge involves young Iraqi girls allegedly being brought to the Blackwater
compound in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, identified in the lawsuit as the
"Blackwater Man Camp," to provide oral sex to contractors for $1. The purpose of the
racketeering allegations is to demonstrate a "pattern of
illegality" by Xe and its affiliated companies, Burke said. If the court rules against
Xe on the racketeering count, it could dissolve the company or place
restrictions on its future activities. "What we're very, very
worried about is this company hurting other people going forward around the
globe," Burke said. "They're moving into Africa, they're moving
into other places, and we believe they need judicial supervision." Anne Tyrrell, a Xe
spokeswoman, said the company "rejects these allegations, which are
largely identical to past allegations made by the same group of attorneys in
other, unrelated cases." External link: http://hamptonroads.com/2009/07/lawsuit-now-accuses-xe-contractors-murder-kidnapping |