By Xinhua
Baghdad : Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Wednesday urged the U.S. embassy to replace the private security company Blackwater with a new security company after its guards involved in a deadly shootout that killed nine Iraqis.
Maliki’s remarks came a day after his cabinet vowed to review the operations of the foreign and local security firms in Iraq after the U.S. embassy’s security contractors opened fire in western Baghdad, killing nine civilians and wounding 15 others. ”
This crime has generated hatred and anger in the government and the people against the U.S. company,” Maliki said in a news conference.
“For the common interests, this company should freeze its activities and the U.S. embassy should hire a new company,” he said.
The prime minister said, “This is not the first time for the company to commit such violation. The Interior Ministry has registered seven violations and these violations should be dealt with.”
“We are not going to allow it to kill Iraqis in cold blood. Therefore, we have frozen all its activities and a joint committee has been formed to investigate the incident,” he added.
Sunday’s incident angered the Iraqi people, which pushed the Iraqi government to retract the license of Blackwater, one of the largest foreign security firms working in the country, and to prosecute the culpable guards.
However, Blackwater insisted its guards acted “lawfully and appropriately” to the hostile attack, saying “the civilians reportedly fired upon by Blackwater professionals were in fact armed enemies and Blackwater personnel returned defensive fire.”
The U.S. embassy in Baghdad suspended all ground travel for its diplomats across Iraq Monday, for fears of public anger that followed the Sunday’s deadly shootout.
The embassy’s decision affectively halted Blackwater’s operations because the main task of the company is to escort the U.S. diplomats.