Iraq will not renew the licence of Blackwater Worldwide, the private security firm accused of killing Iraqi civilians while protecting US diplomats, it was confirmed today.
"The operating permission for the firm Blackwater will not be renewed. Its chance is zero," said Alaa al-Taie, head of the press department at the Iraqi Interior Ministry.
"It is not acceptable to Iraqis and there are legal points against it, like killing Iraqis with their weapons." A US embassy official confirmed that the embassy had been informed that the licence would not be renewed, and said it was working on finding a new arrangement to cover its security.
"We don't have specifics about dates. We are working with the government of Iraq and our contractors to address the implications of this decision," the official said.
Blackwater employs hundreds of heavily-armed guards with a fleet of armoured vehicles and helicopters to protect US diplomats in Iraq. The firm boasts that no American officials have been killed while under its protection.
But Iraqi officials have been furious with the firm since a September 2007 shooting in which Blackwater guards opened fire in traffic, killing at least 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians.
One Blackwater guard has pleaded guilty in a US court to voluntary manslaughter and attempt to commit manslaughter over that incident, and is cooperating with US prosecutors.
Five others are awaiting trial next year on manslaughter charges. The firm denies wrongdoing and says its staff were responding to a perceived threat.
Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki branded the incident a "massacre" and complained when the U.S. State Department subsequently renewed Blackwater's contract.
US forces who occupied Iraq after the 2003 invasion granted their Western security contractors blanket immunity from Iraqi law. But that was revoked at the beginning of this year, and security contractors can now be prosecuted in Iraq.
Reuters