Maliki Insists Blackwater Must Pay for Shootings
The Iraqi prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, showed an unexpected streak of stubbornness yesterday in his stand-off with the US over the Blackwater shootings, insisting that action had to be taken against the private security firm.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Mr Maliki, who is in New York for the United Nations general assembly, said Blackwater posed "a serious challenge to the sovereignty of Iraq and cannot be accepted".
His comments were at odds with a briefing of journalists by an Iraqi official in Baghdad who said the expulsion of Blackwater, which has 1,000 staff in the country and provides protection for the US ambassador and other US diplomats, would leave a security vacuum.
Blackwater guards are alleged to have shot 11 civilians in Baghdad last Sunday while protecting a US diplomatic convoy. Blackwater said they were returning fire, while the Iraqi government insisted they opened fire first.
Although the Iraqi government's immediate response was to order the expulsion of Blackwater, the guards are still in Iraq and resumed work on Friday. The US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, has pleaded for them to remain and the row has turned into a test of Iraqi autonomy.
Mr Maliki, whose control over an unwieldy coalition government is shaky, is under pressure to punish Blackwater, which has been involved in a series of controversial shootings in Iraq.
But an Iraqi government spokesman on security, Tahseen al-Sheikhly, told a news conference in Baghdad that Blackwater and other western security firms were doing a good job protecting diplomats.
"If we drive out or expel this company immediately there will be a security vacuum that will demand pulling some troops that work in the field so that we can protect these institutes," he said. "This will create a security imbalance."
Although security firms are not subject to Iraqi law, Mr Sheikhly said Iraqi courts should deal with any crime.
A new point of tension emerged yesterday over the US military forces' arrest of an Iranian on Thursday. Mr Maliki, a Shia Muslim who has a good relationship with Tehran, said the man had been invited to Iraq. "The government of Iraq is an elected one and sovereign. When it gives a visa it is responsible for the visa. We consider the arrest ... of this individual who holds an Iraqi visa and a [valid] passport to be unacceptable."
(c) 2007 The Guardian
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
The Iraqi prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, showed an unexpected streak of stubbornness yesterday in his stand-off with the US over the Blackwater shootings, insisting that action had to be taken against the private security firm.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Mr Maliki, who is in New York for the United Nations general assembly, said Blackwater posed "a serious challenge to the sovereignty of Iraq and cannot be accepted".
His comments were at odds with a briefing of journalists by an Iraqi official in Baghdad who said the expulsion of Blackwater, which has 1,000 staff in the country and provides protection for the US ambassador and other US diplomats, would leave a security vacuum.
Blackwater guards are alleged to have shot 11 civilians in Baghdad last Sunday while protecting a US diplomatic convoy. Blackwater said they were returning fire, while the Iraqi government insisted they opened fire first.
Although the Iraqi government's immediate response was to order the expulsion of Blackwater, the guards are still in Iraq and resumed work on Friday. The US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, has pleaded for them to remain and the row has turned into a test of Iraqi autonomy.
Mr Maliki, whose control over an unwieldy coalition government is shaky, is under pressure to punish Blackwater, which has been involved in a series of controversial shootings in Iraq.
But an Iraqi government spokesman on security, Tahseen al-Sheikhly, told a news conference in Baghdad that Blackwater and other western security firms were doing a good job protecting diplomats.
"If we drive out or expel this company immediately there will be a security vacuum that will demand pulling some troops that work in the field so that we can protect these institutes," he said. "This will create a security imbalance."
Although security firms are not subject to Iraqi law, Mr Sheikhly said Iraqi courts should deal with any crime.
A new point of tension emerged yesterday over the US military forces' arrest of an Iranian on Thursday. Mr Maliki, a Shia Muslim who has a good relationship with Tehran, said the man had been invited to Iraq. "The government of Iraq is an elected one and sovereign. When it gives a visa it is responsible for the visa. We consider the arrest ... of this individual who holds an Iraqi visa and a [valid] passport to be unacceptable."
(c) 2007 The Guardian
The Iraqi prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, showed an unexpected streak of stubbornness yesterday in his stand-off with the US over the Blackwater shootings, insisting that action had to be taken against the private security firm.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Mr Maliki, who is in New York for the United Nations general assembly, said Blackwater posed "a serious challenge to the sovereignty of Iraq and cannot be accepted".
His comments were at odds with a briefing of journalists by an Iraqi official in Baghdad who said the expulsion of Blackwater, which has 1,000 staff in the country and provides protection for the US ambassador and other US diplomats, would leave a security vacuum.
Blackwater guards are alleged to have shot 11 civilians in Baghdad last Sunday while protecting a US diplomatic convoy. Blackwater said they were returning fire, while the Iraqi government insisted they opened fire first.
Although the Iraqi government's immediate response was to order the expulsion of Blackwater, the guards are still in Iraq and resumed work on Friday. The US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, has pleaded for them to remain and the row has turned into a test of Iraqi autonomy.
Mr Maliki, whose control over an unwieldy coalition government is shaky, is under pressure to punish Blackwater, which has been involved in a series of controversial shootings in Iraq.
But an Iraqi government spokesman on security, Tahseen al-Sheikhly, told a news conference in Baghdad that Blackwater and other western security firms were doing a good job protecting diplomats.
"If we drive out or expel this company immediately there will be a security vacuum that will demand pulling some troops that work in the field so that we can protect these institutes," he said. "This will create a security imbalance."
Although security firms are not subject to Iraqi law, Mr Sheikhly said Iraqi courts should deal with any crime.
A new point of tension emerged yesterday over the US military forces' arrest of an Iranian on Thursday. Mr Maliki, a Shia Muslim who has a good relationship with Tehran, said the man had been invited to Iraq. "The government of Iraq is an elected one and sovereign. When it gives a visa it is responsible for the visa. We consider the arrest ... of this individual who holds an Iraqi visa and a [valid] passport to be unacceptable."
(c) 2007 The Guardian