Blackwater: Iraq wants $136m
2007-10-09 22:26
Baghdad - The Iraqi government wants US
security firm Blackwater to pay $8m in compensation to
each of the families of 17 people killed in a shooting last
month, a senior government source said on Tuesday.
The source said the figure was roughly in line with
compensation paid by the Libyan government to the families of
the 270 people killed in the 1988 Lockerbie airline bombing
over Scotland.
Blackwater, which has a US State Department contract to
protect its diplomats in Baghdad, has been told of the demand,
the source said.
It was unclear what Blackwater's response was and the North
Carolina-based firm did not immediately respond to e-mailed
questions from Reuters.
In Washington, State Department spokesperson Sean McCormack
declined comment on how much compensation its contractor had
been asked to pay for the September 16 shootings.
Bereavement payments
"Obviously, the issue of what some refer to as bereavement
payments - or a number of different names for them - is an
issue of some sensitivity that we are taking a look at,"
McCormack told reporters.
"It is an issue that commonly turns up when you have
security incidents in which there is a loss of life.
"As with
other previous incidents throughout Iraq, civilian or military,
we are taking a look at the issue."
There are four separate investigations into Blackwater's
actions in Iraq and McCormack cautioned people about "jumping
to conclusions" on the private security contractor's conduct.
A Libyan intelligence agent was found guilty in 2001 of the
bombing of a Pan Am flight over Lockerbie, which killed 270
people, 189 of them Americans.
In March 2003, Libya reached a political settlement with
the United States and Britain to accept civil responsibility
for the bombing, with Libya agreeing to pay about $2.7bn in total compensation.
- Reuters