Feral Jundi

   I think the key word is preferred contractor, because Blackwater brings a lot of toys and capability to the table.  I guess we will see if in fact, they do go away. –Matt 

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Iraq to Deny New License To Blackwater Security

U.S. Embassy’s Preferred Contractor Accused of Killings

By Ernesto Londoño and Qais Mizher

Washington Post Foreign Service

Thursday, January 29, 2009; A12

MOSUL, Iraq, Jan. 28 — The Iraqi government has informed the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad that it will not issue a new operating license to Blackwater Worldwide, the embassy’s primary security company, which has come under scrutiny for allegedly using excessive force while protecting American diplomats, Iraqi and U.S. officials said Wednesday.

Iraq’s Interior Ministry conveyed its decision to U.S. officials in Baghdad on Jan. 23, in one of the boldest moves the government has made since the Jan. 1 implementation of a security agreement with the United States that sharply curbed American power in Iraq.

Blackwater employees who have not been accused of improper conduct will be allowed to continue working as private security contractors in Iraq if they switch employers, Iraqi officials said Wednesday.

The officials said Blackwater must leave the country as soon as a joint Iraqi-U.S. committee finishes drawing up guidelines for private contractors under the security agreement. It is unclear how long that will take. Blackwater employees and other U.S. contractors had been immune from prosecution under Iraqi law.

“When the work of this committee ends,” Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf said, private security companies “will be under the authority of the Iraqi government, and those companies that don’t have licenses, such as Blackwater, should leave Iraq immediately.”

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