More than a year after the deadly shooting of 17 Iraqi civilians, the US Justice Department has indicted five Blackwater Worldwide security guards and is negotiating a plea deal with a sixth, according to people close to the case that strained US diplomacy and rallied anti-American insurgents.
Prosecutors ordered the five guards to surrender tomorrow to the FBI, but details of where and precisely when were still being worked out on Friday, said people related with the case, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the charges remain secret.
The six guards have been under investigation since a convoy of heavily armed Blackwater contractors opened fire in a crowded Baghdad intersection on Sept. 16, last year. Witnesses said the shooting was unprovoked, but Blackwater, hired by the US State Department to guard US diplomats, said its guards were ambushed by insurgents while responding to a car bombing.
Young children were among the victims and the shooting strained relations between the US and Iraq. Following the shooting, Blackwater became the subject of congressional hearings in Washington and insurgent propaganda videos in Iraq.
The Justice Department obtained the indictment late on Thursday and got it sealed, those close to the case said. The indictment could be made public as early as tomorrow.
The exact charges in the indictment are unclear, but prosecutors have been considering manslaughter and assault charges against the guards for weeks. The Justice Department has also considered bringing charges under a law, passed as part of a 1988 drug bill, that carries a mandatory 30-year prison sentence for using a machine gun in a crime of violence.
One of the six guards has been negotiating to reduce the charges against him in return for cooperation. If completed, such a deal could provide prosecutors with a key witness against the other five.
Others in the convoy have already testified before a federal grand jury about the shooting.
Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd declined comment.
Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said, “We’ve consistently said that we do not believe the guards acted unlawfully. If it is determined they did, we would support holding them accountable.”
Regardless of the charges they bring, prosecutors will have a tough fight. The law is unclear on whether contractors can be charged in the US, or anywhere, for crimes committed overseas. The indictment sends the message that the Justice Department believes contractors do not operate with legal impunity in war zones.
Based at a sprawling compound in Moyock, North Carolinia, Blackwater itself is not a target of the FBI investigation. Company officials have cooperated with the investigation.
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