Blackwater allegedly bribed Iraqi officials US$1m

US private security firm Blackwater Worldwide authorised bribes of up to US$1 million to Iraqi officials to silence criticism after an incident in 2007 in which the company’s guards shot and killed 17 Iraqi civilians in Bagdad, according to a report which appeared in the New York Times.

The allegations were based on interviews conducted by the newspaper with four former Blackwater executives. They allege that the payments, which are illegal under US anti-bribery laws, were approved by then-president Gary Jackson in December 2007. The money was sent from the company’s operations hub in Amman, Jordan to a manager in Iraq. However, they could not confirm whether the funds were then distributed to Iraqi officials. What is known is that officials in Iraq’s Interior Ministry were the intended recipients.

In September 2007, Blackwater guards, travelling in a convoy, opened fire on Iraqi civilians in a section of Bagdad known as Nisour Square. They sprayed automatic weapons fire and launched grenades into civilian buildings. A total 17 Iraqi civilians were killed and many more were wounded. Despite an international outcry over the incident, Blackwater was not immediately stripped of its operating licence in Iraq due to pressure from the US State Department. The company continued to operate in Iraq until earlier this year, when its licence renewal was rejected.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the four former Blackwater executives said they had either took part in the talks on payments, or had been told by other company officials of the plans. They also described a culture of questionable conduct in the company, where officials were contemptuous of government regulations, and that some top company executives pushed the boundaries of legality to keep lucrative contracts to protect US diplomatic personnel in war-torn Iraq, as well as in Afghanistan.

A spokesperson for the security firm, which has been renamed Xe Services, said the allegations were baseless, and declined to comment on former employees. Mr Jackson, who resigned as the company’s president earlier this year, said: “I don’t care what you write.”

A US State Department official said they were not aware of any illicit payments made to Iraqi officials.

According to a report by the BBC news service, Iraqi officials have ordered an investigations in whether the payments had been made.