This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/middle_east/6998788.stm
The article has changed 12 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Iraq shootout firm loses licence | |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| Iraq has cancelled the licence of the private security contractor, Blackwater USA, after it was involved in a gunfight that killed eight civilians. | Iraq has cancelled the licence of the private security contractor, Blackwater USA, after it was involved in a gunfight that killed eight civilians. |
| The Iraqi interior ministry said the firm, based in North Carolina, was now banned from operating anywhere in Iraq. | The Iraqi interior ministry said the firm, based in North Carolina, was now banned from operating anywhere in Iraq. |
| The Blackwater workers, who were contracted by the US state department, apparently opened fire after coming under attack in Baghdad on Sunday. | The Blackwater workers, who were contracted by the US state department, apparently opened fire after coming under attack in Baghdad on Sunday. |
| Thousands of private security guards are employed in lawless Iraq. | Thousands of private security guards are employed in lawless Iraq. |
| They are often heavily armed, but critics say some are not properly trained and are not accountable except to their employers. | They are often heavily armed, but critics say some are not properly trained and are not accountable except to their employers. |
| The interior ministry's director of operations, Maj Gen Abdul Karim Khalaf, said authorities would prosecute any foreign contractors found to have used excessive force. | The interior ministry's director of operations, Maj Gen Abdul Karim Khalaf, said authorities would prosecute any foreign contractors found to have used excessive force. |
| "We have opened a criminal investigation against the group who committed the crime," he told the Agence France-Presse news agency. | |
| Iraqi state television said Prime Minister Nouri Maliki had condemned the shooting. | |
| US investigation | |
| The convoy carrying officials from the US state department came under attack at about 1230 local time on Sunday as it passed through Nisoor Square in the predominantly Sunni neighbourhood of Mansour. | |
| Blackwater bodyguards protected ex-US civilian head Paul Bremer | |
| The Blackwater security guards accompanying the convoy returned fire, killing eight people and wounding 13 others, Iraqi officials said. | |
| Most of the dead and wounded were bystanders, the officials added. One of those killed was a policeman. | |
| A spokesman for the US embassy in Baghdad later confirmed its security vehicles had been involved in the gunfight. | |
| "They received small arms fire. One of the vehicles was disabled in the shooting and had to be towed from the scene," he said. | |
| "The incident is being investigated by department of state diplomatic security service law enforcement officials in co-operation with the government of Iraq and multinational forces." |