Facing Charges, 5 Blackwater Guards to Surrender

Sixth working on plea in '07 Baghdad massacre
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 7, 2008 8:48 AM CST
Facing Charges, 5 Blackwater Guards to Surrender
A bullet hole is seen on a traffic light pole at al-Nisoor square in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2008. At this square, more than a year ago, Blackwater security guards shot dead 17 Iraqi civilians.   (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Five ex-Blackwater security guards will surrender to the FBI tomorrow after indictments in a 2007 shooting that killed 17 Iraqis, CNN reports. A sixth is negotiating a plea. Blackwater says its former workers were responding to an attack, but an Iraqi probe called the incident “premeditated murder.” The private security firm itself won’t be charged, sources told CNN.

“We have been and remain determined and prepared to fight these charges, and we are confident that Dustin Heard will be vindicated,” said a lawyer, referring to one of the former guards.
(More Blackwater stories.)

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