Iraqi Video Shows Blackwater Fired Unprovoked

Iraqi investigators claim to have a videotape that shows that Blackwater USA guards opened fire against Iraqi civilians without provocation in a shooting incident last week that left 11 people dead, including one police officer. Major General Abdul-Karim Khalef of the Interior Ministry said that Iraqi authorities had completed an investigation into the Sept. 16 shootings, and have concluded that Blackwater security guards were responsible for the deaths.

Khalef said that the conclusion was based on witness statements, as well as videotape shot by cameras at a nearby headquarters of the national police command. Eight people were killed on scene, and three of the fifteen wounded in the incident died in hospitals.

Blackwater USA, however, is insisting that its guards came under fire from armed insurgents and only shot back to defend themselves. A spokesman for Blackwater, which provides the major of security for US diplomats and civilian officials in Iraq, said that she knew nothing about the videotape, and was prohibited by contract from discussing the details of the shootings.