FBI takes lead in Blackwater investigation; Federal guards will escort FBI team

FBI takes lead in Blackwater investigation

The FBI has taken control from the State Department of an investigation into the Sept. 16 shooting incident involving security contractor Blackwater in which 11 Iraqis were killed, the department said on Thursday.

The State Department this week invited the FBI to join a diplomatic security team looking into the shooting incident, which enraged Iraqis and led to closer scrutiny of the use of security contractors in war zones.

"They are going to take the lead, the FBI," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. "This is something that we had been discussing internally and with the FBI throughout this process. We thought it was the appropriate move," he added.

Read the rest at Reuters/Alternet

Blackwater won't guard FBI in Iraq shooting probe

The U.S. government, not Blackwater USA, will handle security for FBI agents in Iraq while they investigate whether the private security firm acted properly in an incident that killed 11 Iraqis, the FBI said on Thursday.

"To avoid even the appearance of any conflict, the FBI team deployed from Washington to assist the State Department in the investigation of the events of Sept. 16th will have any additional security needs provided by U.S. government personnel," FBI spokesman John Miller said in a statement.

Blackwater usually guards FBI personnel in Iraq under a State Department contract, the FBI said.

Read the rest at Reuters/Alternet

Federal Guards to Protect Agents in Blackwater Investigation

The FBI said yesterday that a team of agents assigned to investigate allegations of misconduct by Blackwater contractors in Baghdad will be protected there by U.S. government security rather than Blackwater guards.

The State Department, which contracts with Blackwater to protect U.S. diplomats and other civilian officials in Iraq, requested FBI "assistance" in a probe of a Sept. 16 incident in which Blackwater guards allegedly shot and killed at least 11 Iraqi civilians. The investigation is likely to include travel to the site of the shooting in western Baghdad and interviews with Iraqi witnesses...

The New York Daily News reported yesterday that Blackwater personnel would be protecting the FBI agents. That prompted Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), who chairs the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees State Department operations, to urge Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to bar Blackwater employees from the investigation.

McCormack said the issue was under discussion before Leahy's letter to Rice was received and he did not know whether Rice had seen it.

Read the rest at the Washington Post

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