clipped from: www.commondreams.org BAGHDAD - A top Iraqi judge said on Tuesday that US security firm Blackwater could go on trial over a deadly shootout in Baghdad, as Washington sought to cool tensions over the incident.
“This company is subject to Iraqi law and the crime committed was on Iraqi territory and the Iraqi judiciary is responsible for tackling the case,” said Abdul Sattar Ghafour Bairaqdar from Iraq’s Supreme Judiciary Council, the country’s highest court.
Iraq’s interior ministry on Monday ordered the cancellation of Blackwater’s operating licence after its guards who were escorting US embassy officials were involved in Sunday’s gunbattle in Baghdad’s Al-Yarmukh neighbourhood.
“Blackwater is still here. The US authorities are holding discussions with the Iraqi counterparts over the issue,” the official told AFP.