Hoshyar Zebari, the Foreign Minister, said the Americans had agreed to drop the immunity as part of their more “flexible” approach in talks that have sparked anger among many Iraqis, who see the security deal as an effort to extend US control over the country.
Immunity for the sprawling army of foreign guns for hire has been a sensitive issue for years. Many Western bodyguards have been notoriously trigger-happy, and on one occasion even posted on a website a film of one group shooting innocent Iraqi drivers from the back of their armoured vehicle. The issue of accountability came to the fore last September when guards working for Blackwater, an American company under contract to the US State Department, shot dead 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad.
A Western security contractor told The Times the new rules would impact hardest on high-profile groups like Blackwater, operating out of the green zone fortified government compound in the heart of the Iraqi capital.
“The big American companies view themselves to be above the law anyway,” said the contractor, who asked not to be named. “At the moment they just regard everyone who comes near them as a threat and are happy to light them up.”
The contractor said that professional standards had plummeted as many security companies rushed to respond to massive demand in Iraq, as the huge reconstruction contracts continued to come on the market despite the surging violence. There has also been an endless supply of ex-army men looking for a well-paid life of adventure.
“If you are a member of the British Army on £16,000 a year in Afghanistan and Iraq and you can get £70,000 a year to do two months on and one month off in Iraq, you’ll jump at the chance,” the contractor said.
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