Maliki Backs Dwon On Blackwater Hired Gun License
Sep 20, 2007
By Muhammad Abu Nasr | Iraqi Resistance Report

In a turn of events that comes as no surprise, Blackwater USA, the mercenary company responsible for massacring Iraqi civilians in Western Iraq Sunday and the hired guns that are often called Bush’s private army are poised to walk away with murder with the blessing of Iraq’s Maliki regime.

In a dispatch posted at 12:52pm Baghdad time midday Wednesday, the Association of Muslim Scholars of Iraq (AMSI) reported that the US-installed regime of “Prime Minister” Nuri al-Maliki backed away from its earlier announcement that it had withdrawn the license of the American mercenary security contractor “Blackwater” to operate in Iraq following Sunday’s massacre of Iraqi civilians in western Baghdad.

The AMSI reported ‘Ali ad-Dabbagh, a spokesman for the puppet “Prime Minister” as saying that the order to rescind “Blackwater’s” license only pertained to the period while the massacre was under investigation.

Ad-Dabbagh said, “we do not intend to stop them or withdraw their license permanently, but we want them to respect the law and regulations here in Iraq.”

Speaking on behalf of the US-installed “Prime Minister” ad-Dabbagh praised the mercenary forces serving the American occupation, saying: “we understand and salute the security companies for providing a level of protection that is unavailable for diplomats and companies.”

There had been earlier reports that Blackwater’s license to operate in Iraq had been withdrawn following an attack by the company’s mercenaries on Iraqi civilians in western Baghdad’s an-Nusur square midday Sunday, September 16, 2007. Reports on that day indicated that nine civilians were killed when the mercenaries employed by Blackwater opened fire on the square after a sniper had taken shots at their convoy. Another 15 people were wounded in the attack.

According to figures published by the American Associated Press in February 2007, there are 120,000 contract workers employed by numerous private companies – one of which is Blackwater USA serving the American occupation forces in Iraq, many of them guarding US military convoys and installations.

Sectarian Murder Spree Continues: Eight More Bodies Found Dumped In Various Parts Of Baghdad

In a dispatch posted at 10:59pm Baghdad time Wednesday night, the Aswat al-‘Iraq news agency, which was set up by Reuters and the U.N. Development Agency, reported that the Iraqi puppet police recovered the bodies of eight more victims of sectarian murder that had been dumped in various parts of Baghdad on Wednesday.

Aswat al-‘Iraq reported a source in the puppet “Iraqi Interior Ministry” as saying that the victims had all been shot to death.

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