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| US to review Iraq security firms |
| US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has ordered a review of the way private security firms operate in Iraq and the oversight given by the US military.
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| UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
, 27-September-2007
0:40:34 AM |
| The move follows an incident earlier this month involving US security firm Blackwater, in which 11 Iraqis died.
The Iraqi government reacted by briefly suspending the firm, and drafting new laws regulating private security.
A Pentagon spokesman said Mr Gates had "real concerns" and wanted to ensure contractors worked within US rules.
About 7,000 private security contractors work for the Pentagon in Iraq.
The US state department also employs three separate security firms to protect diplomats and important sites within Iraq.
'Means and resources'
Addressing the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, Mr Gates said that his concern was "whether there has been sufficient accountability and oversight" of contractors.
He said the Pentagon had sufficient legal authority to oversee private security firms but that the issue was whether commanders on the ground had sufficient "means and resources" to exercise those powers.
The defence secretary was giving testimony to Congress as he requested $190bn (£94bn) in funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2008.
Mr Gates on Sunday sent a five-person fact-finding team to Iraq to examine the issue of private security contractors more closely.
A US-Iraqi panel is already investigating the shooting, which provoked widespread anger in Iraq and prompted the Iraqi government to order a temporary halt to Blackwater's operations in the country.
Blackwater USA has said its guards reacted lawfully to an attack on a US diplomatic convoy.
The BBC's Jonathan Beale in Washington says that while the incident involving Blackwater is at the centre of inquiries, the intervention of Mr Gates suggests that concerns may go much further.
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