Federal prosecutors in Washington announced Friday they will dismiss a manslaughter charge against one of the Blackwater contractors charged in a high-profile shooting incident in Baghdad, Iraq, two years ago.
A senior al Qaeda leader in Afghanistan has blamed the U.S. security firm formerly known as Blackwater as being behind the recent spate of deadly attacks in the Pakistani city of Peshawar.
A former vice president of the Blackwater private security company said he was "unaware of any plot or guidance for Blackwater to bribe Iraqi officials" as rage erupted over the killings of 17 civilians by the company's security guards more than two years ago.
The private military contractor formerly known as Blackwater has held classified contracts with the Central Intelligence Agency for nearly a decade, but an allegation that the contractor was part of a secret CIA program to kill al Qaeda operatives -- if true -- would take the relationship to a whole new level.
The Central Intelligence Agency hired the private security firm Blackwater USA in 2004 to work on a covert program aimed at targeting and potentially killing top al Qaeda leaders, according to a source familiar with the program.
A member of Congress Friday called on the State Department to stop doing business with Xe, the North Carolina-based security company formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide.
Two former Blackwater employees have made statements against Blackwater Worldwide and its founder Erik Prince, accusing the security company and its former CEO of murder and other serious crimes in Iraq, according to court documents filed this week.
A helicopter from private military contractor Xe crashed outside Baghdad on Friday, killing two crew members and leaving two other injured, a company spokeswoman said.
The company formerly known as Blackwater, now called Xe much to its chagrin, has been at the center of the contractor debate for years.
March 31, 2004, started early for the four men and the convoy they were escorting. Their differences set aside for the time being, the men hopped into their Pajeros and pulled out, heading to the heart of Falluja.
Federal prosecutors in Washington announced Friday they will dismiss a manslaughter charge against one of the Blackwater contractors charged in a high-profile shooting incident in Baghdad, Iraq, two years ago.
A senior al Qaeda leader in Afghanistan has blamed the U.S. security firm formerly known as Blackwater as being behind the recent spate of deadly attacks in the Pakistani city of Peshawar.
A former vice president of the Blackwater private security company said he was "unaware of any plot or guidance for Blackwater to bribe Iraqi officials" as rage erupted over the killings of 17 civilians by the company's security guards more than two years ago.
The private military contractor formerly known as Blackwater has held classified contracts with the Central Intelligence Agency for nearly a decade, but an allegation that the contractor was part of a secret CIA program to kill al Qaeda operatives -- if true -- would take the relationship to a whole new level.
The Central Intelligence Agency hired the private security firm Blackwater USA in 2004 to work on a covert program aimed at targeting and potentially killing top al Qaeda leaders, according to a source familiar with the program.
A member of Congress Friday called on the State Department to stop doing business with Xe, the North Carolina-based security company formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide.
Two former Blackwater employees have made statements against Blackwater Worldwide and its founder Erik Prince, accusing the security company and its former CEO of murder and other serious crimes in Iraq, according to court documents filed this week.
A helicopter from private military contractor Xe crashed outside Baghdad on Friday, killing two crew members and leaving two other injured, a company spokeswoman said.
The company formerly known as Blackwater, now called Xe much to its chagrin, has been at the center of the contractor debate for years.
March 31, 2004, started early for the four men and the convoy they were escorting. Their differences set aside for the time being, the men hopped into their Pajeros and pulled out, heading to the heart of Falluja.
The group would be met by a Blackwater security team in Kabul, Afghanistan. They would be escorted from one meeting to another with employees of the Department of State, the CIA, and the Department of Defense. Erik Prince wanted to know how his company was being perceived half a world away from the Washington media.
The State Department failed to seek $55 million in penalties from the American security firm once known as Blackwater for not properly complying with its security contract for protecting diplomatic personnel in Iraq, an audit shows.
Two U.S. security contractors involved in the shooting death of an Afghan civilian said they were pressured to say they had been drinking in order to protect the company's contract.
Four security contractors under investigation by the U.S. military for a shooting in Afghanistan are being held against their will by their former employer, their lawyer told CNN on Saturday.
The troubled Blackwater era ends in Iraq on Thursday as another firm takes over the once-dominant company's security services contract in Baghdad.
Donna Zovko will have to wait to travel to Falluja to see where her son died in one of the Iraq war's most infamous attacks.
Herndon, Virginia-based Triple Canopy has been awarded the security services contract in Baghdad, a State Department source told CNN Tuesday.
Erik Prince, founder of the Blackwater Worldwide security firm, announced Monday he has resigned as head of the company, recently renamed Xe.
The State Department will not renew the contract of security contractor Blackwater Worldwide when it expires in May, a senior State Department official said Friday.
Iraq will not grant an operating license to security firm Blackwater Worldwide, an Interior Ministry official said Thursday.
Five former Blackwater Worldwide security guards pleaded not guilty Tuesday to voluntary manslaughter charges and other crimes stemming from a shooting incident in Baghdad that left 17 Iraqis dead.
U.S. prosecutors met Saturday with dozens of Iraqis to discuss the case of five former Blackwater Worldwide guards accused in a shooting that killed 17 in 2007.
Five former Blackwater Worldwide security guards indicted on voluntary manslaughter and other charges in connection with killings in Iraq were released on their own recognizance Monday after a court hearing.
The Justice Department on Monday plans to unveil charges against five former Blackwater Worldwide security guards stemming from a 2007 shooting that killed 17 Iraqis in Baghdad, according to several sources with knowledge of the investigation.
Five former Blackwater security guards, indicted in a 2007 shooting incident in Baghdad that left 17 Iraqis dead, will surrender to the FBI on Monday, a source told CNN on Saturday.
Five security guards from Blackwater Worldwide have been indicted on charges related to a 2007 shooting in which 17 Iraqis were killed in a Baghdad square, two sources said Friday.
Justice Department prosecutors are moving closer to seeking indictments for a small number of Blackwater security guards in connection with the deadly shootings of 17 Iraqi civilians in 2007.
Blackwater Worldwide and other private security firms are joining the battle against pirates plaguing one of the world's most important shipping lanes off the coast of Somalia
Security contractor Blackwater said any guards who acted improperly in a deadly 2007 shooting in Baghdad should be held accountable, but believes its team acted in self-defense, a company spokeswoman said.
Security contractors working in Iraq will no longer receive immunity from prosecution in that nation under a deal being brokered by Iraqi and U.S. officials, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said.
Three Iraqis testified Tuesday in a federal grand jury investigation of a deadly Baghdad shooting involving security contractors from Blackwater Worldwide.
Blackwater Worldwide, the security contractor blamed by an angry Iraqi government for the shooting deaths of 17 civilians, is not expected to face criminal charges
The U.S. State Department's renewal of Blackwater's contract to provide security in Iraq "is bad news," an adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said.
The State Department will renew its contract with Blackwater to provide security in Iraq, Greg Starr, acting assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security, said Friday.
Amid investigations into fatal shootings of civilians and allegations of tax violations, Blackwater USA's multimillion-dollar contract to protect diplomats in Baghdad has been renewed, the State Department said Friday
The Bush Administration faces a political decision over whether to renew the contract of the security firm protecting U.S. officials in Iraq
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