Blackwater Guards

Five Blackwater Worldwide security guards have been indicted and a sixth was negotiating a plea bargain for a 2007 shooting in Baghdad that left 17 Iraqis dead and became an anti-American rallying cry for insurgents, people with knowledge of the case said. Prosecutors obtained the indictment late Thursday and had it put under seal until it is made public, perhaps as early as Monday, when the five are to surrender. All who discussed the case did so on condition of anonymity because the matters remain sealed.

Iraq has given hundreds of guards linked to the private security company formerly known as Blackwater a week to leave the country or face arrest, Interior Ministry officials said Wednesday. The order follows the dismissal in December by a U.S. federal judge of murder charges against five Blackwater guards accused of killing Iraqi civilians in a 2007 shooting incident on Baghdad's Nisoor Square. The Iraqi government said that 17 people died in the shooting, in which Blackwater guards opened fire on the busy square after they said they had come under attack, though an FBI investigation found only 14 deaths.

A federal judge in Washington on Thursday dismissed criminal charges against five Blackwater security guards accused of killing 17 unarmed Iraqi civilians in an incident that strained U.S.-Iraqi relations and sparked an outcry over the military's use of private contractors. The judge did not rule on the substance of the charges against the security guards, but instead decided that prosecutors had wrongly relied on what the guards told State Department investigators shortly after the incident.

Vice President Joe Biden promised Saturday that the Obama administration would appeal a U.S. court's decision to drop charges against a group of Blackwater guards involved in a shooting that left at least 14 Iraqi civilians dead. The September 2007 shootings in a busy Baghdad square enraged Iraqis, and tempers were further inflamed last month when a U.S. federal judge dismissed criminal charges against five of the former guards for the security firm now known as Xe. The judge ruled that the prosecution improperly built the case on incriminating statements the guards were forced to give to the State Department.

The traffic circle hums on a cool and sunny afternoon, as motorists round the center median with its fake orange palm tree that sparkles at night, blooming flower beds and chunky sculpture. On such a calm day in Baghdad, it is hard to imagine the carnage that erupted here in Nisoor Square in September 2007, when Blackwater Worldwide security guards killed at least 17 Iraqis in a hail of machine-gun bullets and grenades, but the evidence remains.

Iraq has given hundreds of guards linked to the private security company formerly known as Blackwater a week to leave the country or face arrest, Interior Ministry officials said Wednesday. The order follows the dismissal in December by a U.S. federal judge of murder charges against five Blackwater guards accused of killing Iraqi civilians in a 2007 shooting incident on Baghdad's Nisoor Square. The Iraqi government said that 17 people died in the shooting, in which Blackwater guards opened fire on the busy square after they said they had come under attack, though an FBI investigation found only 14 deaths.

A fourth lawsuit has been filed in federal court against the former Blackwater Worldwide security firm on behalf of family members of Iraqis allegedly killed by Blackwater guards. The lawsuit alleges that three Blackwater guards on a rooftop killed three guards for the Iraqi Media Network and that 20 other Blackwater employees refused to cooperate with Iraqi officials investigating the Feb. 7, 2007, shooting. North Carolina-based Blackwater has changed its name to Xe. The lawsuit was filed in San Diego because Xe operates two training facilities there, lawyers said.

Re "Guards defied orders, U.S. says," Dec. 9 The defense attorneys for the Blackwater guards accused of killing unarmed civilians in Baghdad contend that the Justice Department does not have the proper jurisdiction to try them. They're probably right. The five men should be sent back to Iraq, where the incident took place, to be tried. I'm sure they'll be able to get the fair trial they want and deserve there. Tom Ogden Hollywood

washington -- Blackwater USA, the private security contractor under scrutiny for its role in a deadly Baghdad shootout last month, has fired 122 of its armed guards in Iraq since it started protecting U.S. diplomats there three years ago, congressional investigators said Monday. The firings, most frequently for weapons-related incidents, amount to about 15% of Blackwater's current workforce in Iraq.

The young biology student pulled his car to the side of the busy traffic circle when he saw a fast-moving line of SUVs approaching from behind. As they flew past, he recalls, the lead vehicle appeared to intentionally smash into his sedan. But the worst was yet to come. As the convoy sped off, a gunner inside the last sport utility vehicle sprayed the traffic circle with bullets. Pedestrians ran for cover.

The security firm formerly known as Blackwater has reached a settlement in seven civil lawsuits filed against it by families of Iraqis killed during what the suits called "senseless slaughter" by company guards. In an unrelated shooting involving Blackwater guards in Afghanistan in May, two former employees of the North Carolina-based security contractor were charged Thursday with killing two Afghan civilians after a traffic incident. The legal developments came a week after a federal judge dismissed manslaughter charges against five Blackwater guards charged with killing at least 14 civilians in Baghdad's Nisoor Square in September 2007.

A federal judge in Washington on Thursday dismissed criminal charges against five Blackwater security guards accused of killing 17 unarmed Iraqi civilians in an incident that strained U.S.-Iraqi relations and sparked an outcry over the military's use of private contractors. The judge did not rule on the substance of the charges against the security guards, but instead decided that prosecutors had wrongly relied on what the guards told State Department investigators shortly after the incident.

A fourth lawsuit has been filed in federal court against the former Blackwater Worldwide security firm on behalf of family members of Iraqis allegedly killed by Blackwater guards. The lawsuit alleges that three Blackwater guards on a rooftop killed three guards for the Iraqi Media Network and that 20 other Blackwater employees refused to cooperate with Iraqi officials investigating the Feb. 7, 2007, shooting. North Carolina-based Blackwater has changed its name to Xe. The lawsuit was filed in San Diego because Xe operates two training facilities there, lawyers said.

Ask attorney Hassan Jabbar Salman what should happen to five Blackwater Worldwide guards accused of killing 17 unarmed Iraqis and wounding 20 others, including himself, and his answer is simple: They should be hanged. Salman watched helplessly from his car on Sept. 16, 2007, as Blackwater's Raven 23 convoy opened fire in Baghdad's crowded Nisoor Square, firing automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. Four bullets struck his back, one piercing his left lung.

Re "Guards defied orders, U.S. says," Dec. 9 The defense attorneys for the Blackwater guards accused of killing unarmed civilians in Baghdad contend that the Justice Department does not have the proper jurisdiction to try them. They're probably right. The five men should be sent back to Iraq, where the incident took place, to be tried. I'm sure they'll be able to get the fair trial they want and deserve there. Tom Ogden Hollywood

The traffic circle hums on a cool and sunny afternoon, as motorists round the center median with its fake orange palm tree that sparkles at night, blooming flower beds and chunky sculpture. On such a calm day in Baghdad, it is hard to imagine the carnage that erupted here in Nisoor Square in September 2007, when Blackwater Worldwide security guards killed at least 17 Iraqis in a hail of machine-gun bullets and grenades, but the evidence remains.

The security firm formerly known as Blackwater has reached a settlement in seven civil lawsuits filed against it by families of Iraqis killed during what the suits called "senseless slaughter" by company guards. In an unrelated shooting involving Blackwater guards in Afghanistan in May, two former employees of the North Carolina-based security contractor were charged Thursday with killing two Afghan civilians after a traffic incident. The legal developments came a week after a federal judge dismissed manslaughter charges against five Blackwater guards charged with killing at least 14 civilians in Baghdad's Nisoor Square in September 2007.

The five Blackwater security guards indicted in the deaths of unarmed civilians in Baghdad last year were operating in the area in defiance of U.S. government orders and opened fire with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, killing some people as they tried to surrender or flee, according to a Justice Department investigation made public Monday. The government's case against the five men was laid out in court documents unsealed by a federal judge.