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米「ブラックウオーター」要員、アフガンで市民射殺か （読売新聞）
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http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20090517-00000643-yom-int
米「ブラックウオーター」要員、アフガンで市民射殺か
5月17日22時8分配信 読売新聞
【イスラマバード＝酒井圭吾】アフガニスタンで国軍兵の訓練にあたっていた米民間警備会社ブラックウオーター（２月に「Ｘｅ」に社名変更）の要員４人が、アフガン市民を射殺した疑いが強まり、駐留米軍当局が調査を始めた。ＡＰ通信などが１７日報じた。
同社は２００７年、イラクで市民１７人が死亡する銃乱射事件を起こし、国際的な非難を浴びた。ＡＰ通信によると、要員４人は今月５日、首都カブールで事故による渋滞に巻き込まれ、車を止めていたが、不審な車が近づいてきたとして銃を乱射。車の運転手や通行人３人が負傷し、うち１人は２日後に死亡した。
要員は勤務時間外で、負傷者がテロリストであった可能性は低いという。駐留米軍当局は、要員のアフガン出国を認めず、同社も「捜査に協力する」としている。
最終更新:5月17日22時8分
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●米国各紙による、この事件の報道
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http://www.ajc.com/services/content/printedition/2009/05/17/warglance0517.html
（The Atlanta Journal-Constitution）
War developments
From News Services
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Iraq
A joint U.S.-Iraqi force targeted an al-Qaida cell involved in funneling arms and weapons into Iraq from Syria, arresting three people near the troubled northern city of Mosul, the U.S. military said. The statement said the cell is led by the Syria-based Abu Khalaf, whose assets were frozen by the U.S. Treasury Department for his involvement in the flow of money, weapons and militants through Syria into Iraq. Mosul, described as the last urban stronghold in Iraq of al-Qaida, has been the scene of a flurry of operations ahead of a June deadline for U.S. forces to pull out of the country’s cities. U.S. commanders have expressed concern that Iraqi forces may not be ready to shoulder the full burden of security in Mosul, but the Iraqi government has said the deadline is “non-extendable.” “We’re nervous about the United States leaving Iraq, but this is a challenge we have to take,” said Iraqi Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi.
Pakistan
A car bomb destroyed an Internet cafe and tore through a bus carrying disabled children in northwestern Pakistan, killing at least 11 people and wounding many more, police said. Elsewhere in the troubled region, an apparent U.S. missile strike hit a Taliban training camp, killing 29 militants, while Pakistani troops killed dozens of Taliban in their bid to re-conquer the Swat Valley, officials said. Militants have vowed to carry out a constant stream of attacks in Pakistan in retaliation for dozens of American missile attacks on their strongholds in Pakistan’s tribal areas.
Afghanistan
Four U.S. contractors for the private security company formerly known as Blackwater are accusing the company of holding them against their will in Afghanistan following their involvement in a shooting this month, a lawyer said. An Afghan died and two others were wounded in the May 5 shooting, which followed a car accident in Kabul. Blackwater was involved in a 2007 shooting in a busy square in Baghdad, Iraq, that left as many as 17 Iraqi civilians dead and led to the end of its Baghdad operations this month. It has since changed its name to Xe. The lawyer representing the contractors in Afghanistan, Daniel Callahan, said the U.S. Army had cleared the four men to leave the country after completing their questioning in the shooting. But the men are now being held against their will by the company’s executives in a company “safe house,” he said. The men believe that Xe is attempting to negotiate a deal in which it would hand them over to Afghan authorities in exchange for official permission to remain in the country, Callahan said. Xe denied the allegation.
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http://www.baltimorenews.net/story/502720
Security firm staff shoot at Afghan civilians
Baltimore News.Net
Sunday 17th May, 2009
Four men from a US company, employed to train Afghan troops, are under investigation over a shooting incident in Kabul.
The four contractors from the once-named Blackwater organisation have been accused of killing an Afghan man after a traffic accident.
The men allegedly fired on an oncoming car in Kabul after they had been involved in a car crash.
A lawyer for the four men said they saw the oncoming vehicle as a threat.
Two other Afghans in the car were also wounded in the incident.
The US military has asked the firm, now named Xe Services after losing its Iraq contract this year, to hold the four men in Afghanistan until the completion of the investigation.
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http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/05/16/afghanistan.contractors/
Contractors involved in shooting are virtual prisoners, attorney says
●Story Highlights
・Four former contractors held in a safe house in a mosque, attorney says
・Paravant says former employees told not to leave country without U.S. approval
・Sources say Paravant linked to firm with same owner as Blackwater
・At least two Afghans wounded in shooting after car accident
May 16, 2009 -- Updated 0218 GMT (1018 HKT)
(CNN) -- Four security contractors under investigation by the U.S. military for a shooting in Afghanistan are being held against their will by their former employer, their lawyer told CNN on Saturday.
Not true, says Paravant, the employer. It said that while the former employees have been "instructed not to leave the country without the approval and direction of the Department of Defense," they haven't been constrained by the company.
Paravant is affiliated with Xe, the new company name for the security contractor Blackwater Worldwide, according to sources familiar with the incident. Paravant is owned by Erik Prince, who is also the owner of Xe.
The Iraqi government says Blackwater security guards killed 17 Iraqi civilians in September 2007. Blackwater lost its contract there after Iraq's government refused to renew the firm's operating license.
Dan Callahan, the attorney for the four in Afghanistan, said Xe has been interviewing them about the May 5 incident in Kabul.
Callahan said the contractors acted appropriately in the incident, which began after a traffic accident.
He said one car slammed into another and the contractors got out to help the people who were rear-ended.
"The attacking vehicle did a U-turn and headed back at them, so they shot," Callahan said.
Two people were wounded.
The U.S. military provided a similar account of the incident, saying the contractors "were approached by a vehicle in a manner the contractors felt threatening."
Callahan said Xe is engaging in "false imprisonment" by keeping the men in a safe house in a mosque. They are mostly kept in one room but are free to leave that space and eat in other rooms. They've been able to get calls via Skype, the telephone service over the Internet, he said.
"They should be allowed to leave and not be treated as a pawn in negotiations with the Afghan government" to keep the company from losing its license to operate there, Callahan said.
The four have had their contracts terminated "for failure to comply with the terms of their contract, which require, among other things, compliance with all laws, regulations and company policies," Xe said.
Xe denied Callahan's claims about false imprisonment.
"Consistent with Paravant's obligation and desire to cooperate with the investigation, the company instructed the four terminated individuals to remain in Afghanistan pending approval from the proper DoD authorities," the company said.
It said the company continues to ask the Pentagon about the men's travel status.
"Paravant in no way has restrained these individuals. The company again renewed its request to DoD today to obtain assurance that the proper DoD authorities have granted permission for the four individuals to leave the country," it said.
One company source said that while the four are free to leave, the company won't buy them one-way tickets home and want the men to remain in the country for a meeting next week with military officials investigating the incident.
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●ところで、米国では海賊出没海域を通過する商船に警備部隊を乗せることを
義務づけたので、ブラックウォーター社も民間武装部隊も「海賊対策の自衛隊」
として仕事が出来るようになった。 だがブラックウォーター社は、配属先での
殺人犯罪や人種差別的虐待や人ちがい拉致監禁などで多くの訴訟を抱えて
いる始末……。
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http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/05/blackwaters-pirate-fighting-ops-sunk-after-discrimination-suits/
Blackwater’s Pirate-Fighting Ops Sunk After Discrimination Suits
By Nathan Hodge May 14, 2009 | 11:10 am |
Categories: Navy, Rogue States, Terrorists, Guerillas, Pirates
The Coast Guard this week issued new regulations that require U.S.-flagged commercial ships to post guards when they are passing through the pirate-infested waters of the Gulf of Aden; ship owners can now decide whether or not their guards will have guns. The Pentagon, as well, is studying the feasibility of bringing private security firms on board U.S. vessels.
Sounds like a job for Blackwater Xe. Only problem is, the company doesn’t seem to be in the pirate-fighting business at the moment. They’re too busy getting sued by their guns-for-hire, for racial discrimination and for false imprisionment. One of the crew members, you see, dared to speak with a reporter.
Last fall, as the piracy problem reached crisis proportions, the company then known as Blackwater stepped forward to offer its pirate-fighting services to the shipping industry. The firm announced that its 183-foot ship, the McArthur, was standing ready to provide convoy escort. The ship, a former oceanographic research vessel, was reconfigured to haul two Little Bird helicopters, rigid inflatable boats, and security team. One had to give points to founder and CEO Erik Prince points for the vision thing.
But in practice, those plans didn’t seem to work out. As Virginian-Pilot reporter Bill Sizemore reports, the McArthur’s recent cruise to the Middle East did not go smoothly, and the company is facing lawsuits from former crew members. Writes Sizemore:
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One former crew member says that on the orders of the captain, he was thrown to the deck and handcuffed in retaliation for speaking to a newspaper reporter. He is suing for false imprisonment, saying he was unlawfully detained by being ‘placed in irons.’
Another crew member, who is black, says that he was subjected to racial epithets from the chief engineer and that when he complained, the captain did nothing about the harassment and retaliated by giving the seaman a poor evaluation.
A third man, the ship’s chief steward, says he was fired after he submitted a written statement to his superiors documenting the hostile work environment and racial harassment aboard the vessel.
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Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell did not comment direct on the litigation, but she said one of the employees was terminated for cause. Regarding the discrimination suit, she told Virginian-Pilot the company “does not condone and will not tolerate discrimination of any kind and takes allegations to the contrary very seriously.” But she also disclosed that the company is no longer doing counter-piracy work.
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