Blackwater deaths 'tragic' - US

By Jonathan Beale
BBC News, Washington

Blackwater provides security to US diplomatic staff in Baghdad

The US has admitted something went tragically wrong when 11 Iraqis died in a shooting involving a US private security contractor earlier this month.

The Deputy Secretary of State, John Negroponte, said his department was now reviewing security arrangements for its staff in Iraq following the incident.

The Pentagon is also carrying out an investigation into contractors in Iraq.

The firm under suspicion, Blackwater, has said its guards reacted lawfully to an attack on a US diplomatic convoy.

Earlier, Iraqi ministers said they were still determined to press ahead with legislation that would strip foreign security personnel of their immunity from prosecution under Iraqi law.

Review

In a statement, Mr Negroponte told a US Senate committee that between January and September of this year, Blackwater had carried out almost 2,000 Protective Security Details (PSDs) escorting diplomats and visitors in Baghdad.

BLACKWATER USA FACTS Founded in 1997 by a former US Navy Seal Headquarters in North Carolina One of at least 28 private security companies in Iraq Employs 744 US citizens, 231 third-country nationals, and 12 Iraqis to protect US state department in Iraq Provided protection for former CPA head Paul Bremer Four employees killed by mob in Falluja in March 2004 Profile: Blackwater USA Impunity under scrutiny

He said that in 56 of those missions, the PSDs had cause to use their weapons.

The deputy secretary of state said that each incident had been reviewed by officials to ensure that proper procedures were followed.

While Mr Negroponte acknowledged that something had gone tragically wrong in the incident on 16 September when 11 Iraqis were killed, he added that he was personally grateful for the presence of Blackwater security staff when he was the US ambassador to Iraq.

He made clear that without private security contractors, US diplomats would not be able to do their job.

The US has now established a joint commission with the Iraqi government to examine the way the contractors operate, as well as carrying out a separate investigation into the incident.

However, a US think tank, the Brookings Institution, has warned that the use of private security contractors appears to have harmed, not helped, the US mission in Iraq.