ALEX
01-18-2010, 12:24 PM
Iraqi government on Monday began collecting signatures of people who were either wounded or lost family members in incidents of violence involving US security firm Blackwater to authorize it to launch a class action lawsuit against the security firm in the United States.
Some 50 people who were either injured or lost their family members in incidents involving Blackwater, now known as Xe Services, attended a special meeting held at the office of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Monday.
Most of those who attended the meeting signed powers of attorney, authorizing the government's lawyers to launch lawsuits against the company in the United States on their behalf. While some of those who attended Monday's meeting said that they have already signed compensation agreements with Blackwater, several others indicated that they had neither signed anything nor taken any compensation.
Al-Maliki's office said after the meeting that the Iraqi government will seek compensation for the victims and their families from Blackwater, adding that it has instructed a U.S. law firm used by the Iraqi government to take over the compensation cases filed by the victims against the security firm with other lawyers in the United States.
The Iraqi government's move to organize the families of the victims to launch civil suits against Blackwater comes just weeks after a U.S. federal judge dismissed charges against five Blackwater guards accused of killing 17 Iraqi civilians at the traffic circle in Nisoor Square in September 2007.
The U.S. federal judge dismissed the charges against the five Blackwater guards on 31st December 2009, saying the defendants' constitutional rights had been violated. In his verdict, the judge also cited mistakes made by the prosecutors.
Though the guards claimed that they were acting in self-defense, the Nisoor Square incident had sparked widespread anger in Iraq after witnesses and family members of the victims insisted that the shooting on 16th September 2007 was unprovoked.
Soon after the verdict on the Nisoor Square shooting case was made late last month, the Iraqi government described it as "regrettable," and issued a statement saying that it would continue to "act forcefully and decisively to prosecute".
Some 50 people who were either injured or lost their family members in incidents involving Blackwater, now known as Xe Services, attended a special meeting held at the office of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Monday.
Most of those who attended the meeting signed powers of attorney, authorizing the government's lawyers to launch lawsuits against the company in the United States on their behalf. While some of those who attended Monday's meeting said that they have already signed compensation agreements with Blackwater, several others indicated that they had neither signed anything nor taken any compensation.
Al-Maliki's office said after the meeting that the Iraqi government will seek compensation for the victims and their families from Blackwater, adding that it has instructed a U.S. law firm used by the Iraqi government to take over the compensation cases filed by the victims against the security firm with other lawyers in the United States.
The Iraqi government's move to organize the families of the victims to launch civil suits against Blackwater comes just weeks after a U.S. federal judge dismissed charges against five Blackwater guards accused of killing 17 Iraqi civilians at the traffic circle in Nisoor Square in September 2007.
The U.S. federal judge dismissed the charges against the five Blackwater guards on 31st December 2009, saying the defendants' constitutional rights had been violated. In his verdict, the judge also cited mistakes made by the prosecutors.
Though the guards claimed that they were acting in self-defense, the Nisoor Square incident had sparked widespread anger in Iraq after witnesses and family members of the victims insisted that the shooting on 16th September 2007 was unprovoked.
Soon after the verdict on the Nisoor Square shooting case was made late last month, the Iraqi government described it as "regrettable," and issued a statement saying that it would continue to "act forcefully and decisively to prosecute".