Nisoor Square

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Iraq Orders Blackwater Contractors Out of Country

Move affects 250 current and former employees

(Newser) - Iraq has ordered about 250 former and current Blackwater employees to leave the country within seven days or face having their visas pulled. The order comes in the wake of a US judge dismissing criminal charges against five Blackwater guards accused in the 2007 shooting deaths of 17 Iraqis in...

Biden: US Will Appeal Blackwater Dismissal

Vice president expresses his 'personal regret' for the case's outcome

(Newser) - Joe Biden said today the US will appeal a court decision dismissing manslaughter charges against five Blackwater guards involved in a deadly 2007 Baghdad shooting. Biden expressed his "personal regret" for the shooting and said the Obama administration was disappointed by the dismissal. "A dismissal is not an...

Iraqi Nixes Blackwater Settlement Offer

'We won't accept such an amount' for Baghdad massacre, he says

(Newser) - An Iraqi injured by the US private security firm once known as Blackwater today rejected a compensation deal for injuries he suffered after company employees opened fire in a crowded Baghdad square. "We have rejected the settlement because it is a small amount. We won't accept such an amount,...

Blackwater Settles Iraqi Civil Suits

But two former contractors arrested in Afghanistan

(Newser) - Blackwater—now known as Xe—has settled a group of civil lawsuits with Iraqis that accused the firm of creating a cowboy culture that led to civilian deaths. The firm will pay $30,000 to injured victims and $100,000 to families of people who died in a number of...

Blackwater's Iraq Contract Ends

Virginia firm takes over security duties

(Newser) - Blackwater’s turbulent term in Iraq ends today with the expiration of its contract, CNN reports. The US opted not to renew the firm’s security services deal in January after Iraqi officials denied it a renewed operating license in the wake of a 2007 shooting in a public square....

Iraqis Bring US Lawsuit Against Blackwater

Shooting victims accuse security firm of promoting 'lawlessness'

(Newser) - Saying the security firm committed "extrajudicial killings and war crimes" in a Baghdad firefight, one injured man and the relatives of three other Iraqis killed last month are suing Blackwater in US federal court. An advocacy group filed the suit today, Reuters reports, seeking compensatory and punitive damages while...

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