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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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February 1st,
2010 - AP Source: DOJ Probing Alleged Blackwater Payments |
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AP Source: DOJ
Probing Alleged Blackwater Payments By Matt Apuzzo Associated Press Writer February 1, 2010 Washington - The Justice
Department is investigating whether security contractor Blackwater Worldwide
tried to bribe Iraqi officials to allow the company to keep working there
after a fatal shooting involving Blackwater guards, according to a person close
to the investigation. The investigation in
Raleigh, N.C., follows a November report by The New York Times that said
executives at the North Carolina-based company authorized about $1 million in
payments to Iraqi officials in 2007. Blackwater had been the source of
tremendous anti-American sentiment in Iraq following the deadly shooting of
17 Iraqis in a crowded intersection. A person close to the
investigation, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not
authorized to discuss the case, said the Justice Department's Fraud Section
is working with federal prosecutors in North Carolina to investigate whether
Blackwater, now known as Xe Services, violated U.S. laws prohibiting bribery
of foreign officials. The Times first reported the
existence of the investigation Monday. Justice Department
spokeswoman Laura Sweeney declined to comment. There was no immediate comment
from the company. In November, the newspaper
cited unnamed sources saying Blackwater's then-president, Gary Jackson,
approved the payments. The Times' sources said Blackwater vice chairman Cofer
Black, a former top CIA and State Department official, learned of the plan
while in Baghdad discussing compensation with U.S. Embassy officials and
confronted company CEO Erik Prince. But Black himself has denied
the account. He told The Associated Press that Blackwater was directed to
provide "to provide some financial compensation to relatives of those
Iraqi victims." He said he never confronted Prince or anyone else at
Blackwater and was unaware of any plot to bribe Iraqi officials. Similarly, Iraqi lawyer
Jaafar al-Mousawi told the Times that he worked with top Blackwater officials
to spend up to $1 million to compensate the families of victims. He said that
he was unaware of any bribery efforts and believed that news reports
misinterpreted the victim compensation as bribes. The Times said Monday that
present and former officials agreed to talk to the paper only on grounds
their identities not be publicly divulged. The activities of the company then
known as Blackwater have remained under scrutiny in the years since the
shootings in Baghdad's Nisour Square. Last week, Vice President
Joe Biden, during a visit to Iraq, announced that the Obama administration
will appeal a federal court decision in the United States that dismissed
manslaughter charges against five guards who worked for Blackwater Worldwide. His announcement came after
a meeting in Baghdad with President Jalal Talabani. The U.S. government
initially turned aside Iraqi demands that the American contract employees
face trial in the Iraqi court system. But after a lengthy investigation in
this country, U.S. prosecutors did decide to charge five of the contractors
with manslaughter, and they accepted a guilty plea from a sixth defendant. But the case collapsed on
Dec. 31 when U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina in Washington dismissed the
case, ruling that the Justice Department had mishandled evidence and violated
the guards' constitutional rights. Eds: Associated Press Writer
Mike Baker in Raleigh contributed to this story. © 2010 The Associated Press. External link: http://tinyurl.com/ygzg9h4 |