Iraqi officials yesterday opened an investigation into claims that the American security company Blackwater offered an $1 million (£600,000) bribe in an attempt to silence government critics of its violent tactics.
The illegal payment was allegedly approved by a top company executive, Gary Jackson, after Blackwater employees killed 14 Iraqi civilians in an unprovoked shooting at a Baghdad roundabout two years ago.
The public outrage over the shooting threatened Blackwater’s lucrative business in Iraq, including a contract to protect American diplomats.
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An official at the Iraqi Interior Ministry, the apparent destination of the $1 million bribe, said: “We heard about the allegations and have started to investigate them.”
According to a report in The New York Times, the US security contractor transferred money from America to Jordan. A Blackwater manager picked up the cash in Amman and took it to Baghdad about three months after the shooting.
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The intended recipients were employees of the Interior Ministry, which is responsible for granting licences to foreign security companies. In modern Iraq it is common for government employees to seek small payments for routine tasks — but nowhere near $1 million.
Blackwater maintains a private army in Iraq that would be a worthy opponent for many small countries. It also operates its own air force to provide security for American convoys and, although its US Embassy contract officially ended earlier this year, it has been extended on an ad hoc basis until a replacement contractor with its own helicopter fleet is available.
The company earned about $200 million last year from protecting US diplomats and a total of $1.5 billion since the 2003 invasion.
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The alleged bribe was meant to counter a tide of ill will towards foreign security companies in Iraq and Blackwater, in particular. After the 2007 mass shooting in Nisoor Square, the company became a byword for violent, cowboy practices.
Blackwater’s trigger-happy attitude has made it a symbol of all that Iraqis feel is wrong with the US occupation. The latest bribery accusations have only confirmed this.
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Aqil Akram, the relative of a Blackwater shooting victim, said: “Everything about them is bad. The victims’ families were paid at most a few thousand dollars in compensation but the company is giving a million dollars to some government officials.”
Renamed Xe Services earlier this year, the company has rejected the bribery accusations. Yet the aftermath of the Nisoor Square shooting led to a feud inside the company and probably contributed to the departure of several high ranking executives.
Cofer Black, a former top CIA official who joined Blackwater, resigned a few months after finding out about the bribe. Mr Jackson, the company president who apparently authorised the payment, also departed.
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A civil suit by Iraqi victims is making its way through the American courts. Separately, five Blackwater guards are facing criminal charges after opening fire for no apparent reason in busy west Baghdad traffic.