Author: Yeghisabet Arthur

KURDS: ARMENIANS WIN, WE PAY THE PRICE
By Falah Mustafa Bakir

Washington Post
/needtoknow/2007/10/kurds_armenians_win_we_pay_the .html
Oct 15 2007

Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan is asking his country’s parliament this
week to unanimously approve a "mobilization" against the Kurdistan
Worker’s Party (PKK), an action that he and other Turkish leaders
have signaled could include a Turkish military attack on the Kurdistan
Region of Iraq. Such an attack would represent the gravest challenge
to Iraq since our liberation from Saddam Hussein in 2003 and would
jeopardize, perhaps fatally, the success of the American mission
in Iraq.

The Kurdistan Region is Iraq’s safest and most secure. But we may
soon pay a heavy price for the actions of the PKK in Turkey, and for
a House Foreign Affairs Committee vote about Armenia in the U.S. –
neither of which have anything to do with the Kurds of Iraq or the
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG.)

The KRG seeks no conflict with Turkey. Quite the opposite: the KRG
considers friendly relations with Turkey its top priority. We consider
the Turkish people as close friends and neighbors with whom we have
much in common. Turkish trade and investment has been instrumental to
our region’s economic growth. We are interested in pursuing stronger
ties through direct dialogue with Ankara on any and all issues of
common interest. Any problems or disagreements should be solved
through diplomacy and dialogue, not threats of military force.

We condemn the killing of innocent people and we do not believe that
violence ever solves problems. The KRG has supported U.S. mediation
efforts with Iraq and Turkey about the PKK, and has encouraged efforts
toward a comprehensive political solution to the problem of the PKK,
which cannot be solved solely through military means.

The KRG does not and will not support the de-stabilization of Turkey
or any of our neighbors. We respect and practice the principle of
noninterference in the affairs of others, and expect the same in
return. In that context, the Iranian intimidation and shelling of
villages and towns along our eastern border must also stop. As with
Turkey, we seek no confrontation with Iran. Since 1991, we have
proven to Turkey, Iran and all of Iraq’s neighbors that the Kurds
are a stabilizing factor in Iraq and the Middle East.

The stakes could not be higher for Iraq, and for the peace and
prosperity of the Kurdistan Region, which has proven itself the
model and gateway for a new Iraq. The Kurds are America’s most
loyal and trusted allies in pursuit of an independent, democratic and
federal Iraq. The current crisis on our borders comes at an especially
inopportune and sensitive time with regard to on-going efforts in Iraq
toward national reconciliation. This is very much a work in progress,
but there is progress.

There is an emerging consensus among Iraqi politicians about
federalism, which is Iraq’s constitutionally mandated form of
government. KRG President Masoud Barzani has called for a conference
in Erbil among Iraq’s political leaders to discuss how to implement
a federal system of governance in our country. The diversity of Iraqi
society is a source of strength, not division. Federalism has worked
around the world – in the United States, the United Arab Emirates,
and in many other countries. It should be seen as the solution,
rather than the problem, for the deep governance challenges in Iraq.

Federalism is not "partition," as some have misrepresented it. We
appreciate those in the U.S. Senate who understand and have recognized
the reality of a federal Iraq through an amendment to the U.S. Defense
Authorization bill.

Some neighboring countries see the shadow of independence falling
across all that we do in the Kurdistan Region. When the Iraqi
constitution was drafted four years ago, the Kurdistan Region’s
leadership made a firm decision to remain part of Iraq. Despite the
national tragedy that has befallen much of the rest of Iraq, we remain
committed to that course of action today. We believe today that our
future is best secured by becoming an active participant in a federal,
democratic and secular Iraq.

Falah Mustafa Bakir is the Head of the Department of Foreign Relations,
with Ministerial rank, in the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq.

Karabakh Open
Oct 11 2007

Grisha Hairapetyan was charged with major financial misappropriation

We have already reported the arrest of the former representative of
the ARF Dashnaktsutyun Central Committee, ex-CEO of the bread factory
and mill of Stepanakert a few days ago.
The press service of the NKR Office of Prosecutor General informed
that Grisha Hairapetyan was charged with financial misappropriation.
A few months ago another ex-director of the bread factory of
Stepanakert Ararat Hairiyan had been arrested who is still behind the
bars.
We have learned from the press service that the investigation is
underway, and charges may be brought against more people.

Concurring Opinions
October 13, 2007 Saturday 1:08 PM EST

Be It Resolved . . .

by Timothy Zick

Oct. 13, 2007 (Concurring Opinions delivered by Newstex) — In prior
postings (hereand here), I have objected to Senate and House
resolutions that condemned political expression by MoveOn.org and
Rush Limbaugh. I did not claim that Congress lacks the authority to
issue such resolutions. Rather, my claim was that such pronouncements
skew the marketplace in political ideas and may chill expression by
some with strongly held political viewpoints — perhaps especially
those who have business before Congress.The issue of congressional
resolutions has surfaced once again, although this time in a very
different context. On Wednesday, the House Foreign Affairs Committee
approved H.Res. 106 — the "Affirmation of the United States Record
on the Armenian Genocide Resolution." The resolution, which includes
findings concerning the Ottoman Empire’s execution and displacement
of Armenians from 1915-23, "call[s] upon the President to ensure that
the foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate
understanding and sensitivity concerning issues related to human
rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide documented in the United
States record relating to the Armenian Genocide, and for other
purposes." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has vowed to bring the measure
to the floor for a vote. President Bush, who has made annual
statements condeming the atrocities against Armenians, lobbied to
block the resolution in committee. He has expressed disappointment
that it was voted out of committee, and has vowed to help defeat its
passage. The President’s interest in the resolution is Turkey is a
valuable ally in the Iraq War. The country serves as a critical
staging ground for the shipment of supplies into Iraq. Turkish
officials, particularly legislators, have reacted strongly to the
resolution. They have threatened to cease providing logistical
support to the United States, have stepped up military operations on
the Iraq border, and have recalled their ambassador to Washington.
>From the earliest days of the republic, congressional resolutions
(joint, concurrent, and simple) have been issued to express the
opinion or will of one or both chambers of Congress. Most
"symbolically expressive" resolutions are not at all controversial.
For example, resolutions have been proposed or enacted which
celebrate children as "the hopes and dreams of the people of the
United States," recognize Ramadan and express "the deepest respect to
Muslims in the United States and throughout the world," acknowledge
military gallantry, and designate March as "Women’s History Month."
Such "feel good" expression does no harm, and indeed can inform the
public of important national policies and priorities. As the fallout
from the Armenian genocide resolution demonstrates, the calculus may
be substantially different, and the stakes much higher, when Congress
expresses itself on matters of foreign affairs. The Constitution
divides the power to conduct foreign relations between the Executive
and Legislative branches. Part of that power resides, of course, in
the issuance of formal statements by the branches. History shows that
congressional resolutions, in particular, can be important
policy-initiating and policy-shaping statements. Previous
congressional resolutions have called on the President of Pakistan to
hold free and fair elections and on the Chinese government to resolve
political crises without violence. Congress also supports
presidential foreign policy initiatives through resolutions. For
example, Congress expressed gratitude to the United Kingdom for
allowing U.S. bombers stationed there to participate in the April,
1986 raid of terrorist bases in Libya. This dialogue — between
Congress and other nations and between the branches of government —
surely ought to be encouraged. But Congress is no ordinary speaker.
As no legal restraints apply to its many "symbolic" resolutions, it
must determine for itself when and on what matters of foreign affairs
it wishes to speak. Congress, in other words, must necessarily
self-censor. On the world stage, as in the domestic market for
political expression, Congress must be acutely aware of the
ramifications of its expression — for diplomacy and, in the case of
the genocide resolution, even military operations. The President and
Congress will not always agree on foreign affairs policies or
agendas. Setting aside Congress’s undoubted ability to speak to
matters of substantive foreign policy and war, what if any norms or
considerations ought to guide Congress when considering whether to
issue symbolic resolutions on controversial matters like Japanese
"comfort women" or Armenian genocide? Should it generally hold its
collective tongue where the controversy does not concern any direct
American interest? When it is particularly important that the United
States speak with a "single voice"? When its expression may interfere
with ongoing military operations, endanger lives, or result in the
breaking of diplomatic ties? Or should Congress, like other speakers,
rely upon the marketplace — including presidential resolutions –to
counter any purported ill effects from its expression, and speak
boldly even in the face of likely hostile audience reactions? I
confess to being far more certain that Congress ought to limit or
abandon resolution-making in the domestic political sphere than I am
of any plausible duty of self-censorhsip in the foreign arena, where
Congress of course has a recognized constitutional role to play.

Albany Times Union, NY
Oct 13 2007

Gun-shy on genocide

First published: Saturday, October 13, 2007

In a saner world, where political niceties don’t so readily give way
to the rituals of denial and retreat, the resolution by a House
committee condemning the mass killings of 1.5 million Armenians in
the Ottoman Empire during World War I for what it was — genocide, in
a word — would be too innocuous to command much in the way of
presidential attention. But there was President Bush, in ever typical
character, urging Congress to retreat from the truth.
The scene on the White House lawn Wednesday might best be described
as where the realpolitik championed by Henry Kissinger intersects
with the perversion of language, and ultimately veracity, spelled out
by George Orwell. To say the obvious about the massacre of Armenians
would be to offend the offenders, namely the Turks responsible for
such atrocities they deny to this day. And Turkey, of course, is one
of the few countries that still supports Mr. Bush in his stubborn
determination to stick it out in the Iraq war.

Shipping supplies through Turkey and into Iraq, critical as it is in
a nonetheless unwinnable war, becomes a diplomatic obstacle of its
own suddenly. Don’t say anything, even about the genocide of nearly a
century ago, if it’s to offend a modern-day ally. So what if Turkey
has now taken to dropping uneasy hints about attacking the Kurds? The
Bush administration still prefers accommodation and compliance.

The thinking at the White House isn’t much different under Mr. Bush
than it was under President Clinton, who stopped a similar House
resolution. Only the plain-speaking, and at times impolitic,
President Reagan was willing to describe what the Turks did to the
Armenians in the most appropriately blunt language.

Mr. Bush, by contrast, uses such insulting euphemisms as "the tragic
suffering of the Armenian people" as he pleads with the House not to
denounce what can’t be allowed to be forgotten, overlooked or
otherwise qualified or rationalized.

"This resolution is not the right response to these historic mass
killings," he says, "and its passage would do great harm to our
relations with a key ally in NATO and in the global war on terror."

Rough translation: That was then, World I, and I have my own battle
to wage and legacy to salvage.

Imagine how the President, of all people, might react if someone
dared to suggest that a condemnation of the Sept. 11 attacks and the
terrorists responsible for them would do harm to a larger political
goal. Or how he’d respond to someone resisting a resolution honoring
the casualties of the Iraq war, on the grounds that the war must be
opposed on all fronts and in all ways.

It’s troubling that Mr. Bush appears to need to be reminded that the
United States is supposed to stand for something, namely some of the
grandest ideals and principles imaginable.

The deaths of 1.5 million people at the hands of a crumbling Ottoman
Empire to drive Armenians out of eastern Turkey were more than the
inevitable consequences the government in Istanbul and some
historians say they were. This was genocide. To oppose its
condemnation raises some very troubling questions about what this
government might do if such atrocities were to be repeated.

THE ISSUE: The White House is hesitant to condemn the mass killings
of Armenians.

THE STAKES: Such deference to Turkey puts the U.S. atop a slippery
slope.

oryID=629808&category=OPINION&newsdate=10/ 13/2007

International Herald Tribune, France
Oct 13 2007

Amid strained relations, the US seeks to stop Turks from taking
military action in Iraq
The Associated PressPublished: October 13, 2007

ISTANBUL, Turkey: U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on
Saturday urged Turkey to show restraint in its response to attacks
from Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq, as two visiting U.S.
officials expressed regret over a congressional resolution on
Armenians that has severely strained relations.

Turkish leaders have appeared to be less receptive to Washington’s
appeals since a committee of U.S. lawmakers passed the resolution
last week labeling as genocide the World War I-era killings of
Armenians by the Ottomans – a characterization that Turkey rejects.

The issue raised concerns that, as a result of the resolution, Turkey
is more likely to take unilateral military action against rebels in
northern Iraq.

"Did they seek permission from anyone when they came from a distance
of 10,000 kilometers and hit Iraq?" Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan said of the U.S. on Friday. "We do not need anyone else’s
advice."

"If such an option is chosen, whatever its price, it will be paid,"
Erdogan said, responding to a question about the possible
repercussions of a northern Iraq campaign.

Rice, speaking during a visit to Moscow on Saturday, acknowledged
that "it’s a difficult time for the relationship" between the two
allies.

Two senior U.S. officials flew to Ankara from Moscow, where they were
on the trip with Rice and U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

The two are Dan Fried, assistant secretary of state for European
affairs, and Eric Edelman, who is the undersecretary of defense for
policy and was the United States’ ambassador to Turkey from July 2003
to June 2005.

The U.S. House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee approved
the nonbinding resolution on Wednesday. Its passage was deemed an
insult by most Turks and prompted Turkey to recall its ambassador
from Washington for consultations. The resolution could be brought to
a vote in the full House by the end of the year.

"Secretary of State Rice Condoleezza Rice asked us before we came
here to express that the Bush administration is opposed to this
resolution," Edelman told a group of reporters in Ankara after
meeting with officials from Turkish Foreign Ministry. NTV television
broadcast his remarks with simultaneous Turkish translation. The AP
translated them back to English.

The two Americans also wanted to assure Turkey that they will do
whatever they can to prevent the genocide resolution from going to a
vote in the entire House of Representatives, a U.S. official told The
Associated Press. The official declined to be named because of the
sensitivity of the matter.

The administration of U.S. President George W. Bush opposed the
measure out of concern it would harm relations with an important NATO
ally and could generate added danger for U.S. soldiers in Iraq.

At the same time, Turkey, which has long considered a cross-border
operation against bases of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party in Iraq, has
moved more troops and equipment to its side of the border after a
recent surge in rebel attacks.

The separatist rebels have been fighting the Turkish government since
1984 in a conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

Washington opposes any unilateral Turkish action that could
destabilize one of the few relatively peaceful parts of Iraq.

A vote in Turkey’s parliament authorizing troops to go into Iraq is
expected after the weekend. Legislators are expected to vote strongly
in favor of action.

The visiting officials presented the U.S. concern with Turkey’s
military plans.

"Turkish officials told us what has happened in (the province of)
Sirnak near the Iraqi border, and we told our concerns" about a
military incursion, Edelman said.

The two Americans told reporters they would convey Turkey’s unease
over rebel activity in Iraqi territory to Iraqi officials. They also
said they might return to Turkey for more discussions after the
weekend.

Rice said she spoke Friday by telephone with Turkey’s president,
prime minister and foreign minister about the genocide resolution.
"They were dismayed," she said.

In discussing their reaction to the resolution and activities of the
Kurdistan Workers’ Party in northern Iraq, she said, "I urged
restraint."

"The Turkish government, I think, is trying to react responsibly.
They recognize how hard we worked to prevent that vote from taking
place," the secretary said.

___

Associated Press writer Matthew Lee in Moscow contributed to this
report.

Anatolia News Agency, Turkey
Oct 12 2007

Turkish, US leaders discuss Armenian resolution

Ankara, 12 October: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan held
a telephone conversation with the US secretary of state, Condoleezza
Rice, late on Thursday [11 October].

Sources said that Rice called Prime Minister Erdogan on the phone and
explained her views about the approval of the resolution regarding
Armenian allegations on the incidents of 1915 by the US House of
Representatives committee on foreign relations.

Prime Minister Erdogan expressed his regret over the decision of the
committee, adding that passage of the resolution will do harm to US
and Armenian interests.

Rice said that the US administration was deeply disappointed by the
vote, adding that they would maintain their efforts resolutely to
prevent passage of the resolution by the full House.

Meanwhile, Rice also called Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan to
explain her views on the approval of the resolution.

ACCORDING TO TURKEY EXPERT, POLITICAL TENSIONS EXPECTED IN USA

Panorama.am
01:16 12/10/2007

"Currently, Turkey cannot do everything it threatens to do. All they
can do is suggest symbolic steps," Turkey expert Ruben Safrastyan
told a Panorama.am journalist when answering a question as to what
he expects to happen to Armenian-Turkish relations after the passage
of House Resolution No. 106.

We note that yesterday the foreign relations committee of the US
House of Representatives voted 27 for, 21 against in passing the
resolution. In Safrastyan’s words, Turkey’s parliament will take a
symbolic step and allow their armed forces to enter northern Iraq.

"That is also seen as a step in pressuring the USA," he insisted.

Safrastyan said that he didn’t expect the passage of the resolution
to have any major affect on Armenia.

"Armenia’s budget won’t get larger, and Armenia won’t get more foreign
aid. We can only be happy that a large and important government
recognized and condemned the Genocide. We have to be thankful for
that," he said. Safrastyan says he can’t say for sure if the resolution
will become law in the end. "The Bush administration, and especially
Condoleezza Rice, are fighting hard against the resolution. The
reality is difficult, but many are on our side this time," he added.

In any event, the resolution will now be passed on to Nancy Pelosi,
who will present the resolution to the House of Representatives
for discussion. "The House session continues until mid-November,"
he said. "We’ll have to see if Pelosi will present the resolution in
the current session or wait until after the winter break."

US PANEL: ARMENIAN KILLING GENOCIDE

Aljazeera.net, Qatar
Oct 11 2007

Up to 1.5 million Armenians are believed to have been killed during
the first world war [EPA]

A US congressional panel has passed a symbolic resolution recognising
the mass killing of Armenians in Ottoman-era Turkey as genocide,
brushing aside White House warnings that it would do "great harm"
to ties with Nato ally Turkey, a key supporter in the Iraq war.

Turkey denounced the move, calling it an insult.

The House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee voted 27-21 to
recognise "the systematic and deliberate annihilation of 1.5 million
Armenians as genocide".

It now goes to the entire chamber where there is likely to be a vote
by mid-November.

The resolution and a companion bill in the senate are strictly symbolic
and do not require the president’s signature.

‘No value’

Your Views

"Turkey has warned of damage to bilateral ties and military
co-operation if congress passes the measure"

Send us your views

Abdullah Gul, Turkey’s president, said the resolution was
"unacceptable".

"Unfortunately some politicians in the United States of America have
closed their ears to calls to be reasonable and once again sought to
sacrifice big problems for small domestic political games," Gul was
quoted as saying by the state news agency Anatolian.

"This unacceptable decision of the committee, like similar ones in the
past, is not regarded by the Turkish people as valid or of any value."

Ankara rejects the Armenian position, backed by many Western
historians, that up to 1.5 million Armenians suffered genocide at
the hands of Ottoman Turks during World War I.

Damage to ties

Turkey has warned of damage to bilateral ties and military co-operation
if congress passes the measure.

Armenian ‘genocide’

Armenians say they suffered discrimination, religious persecution,
heavy taxation and armed attacks under Ottoman Turks since 16th century

Thousands killed in 1894-1896 during a crackdown on Armenian
nationalists

Armenians claim 1.5m murdered or starved to death when Ottoman
Turks deported them to Syria and Mesopotamia deserts from 1915-1917
during WWI

Turkey says inflated toll due to ethnic clashes, disease and famine

All ties between Turkey and Armenia severed more than 90 years ago

George Bush, the US president, along with his secretaries of state
and defence, has warned against the step, as did a number of former
US secretaries of state.

"This resolution is not the right response to these historic mass
killings, and its passage would do great harm to our relations with
a key ally in Nato and in the global war on terror," Bush had said
before the vote.

The bulk of supplies for troops in Iraq pass through Turkey’s Incirlik
airbase, and Turkey provides thousands of truck drivers and other
workers for US operations in Iraq.

Supplies also flow from that base to troops in Afghanistan.

Advocates of the resolution said Turkey should simply acknowledge
history and stop threatening retaliation.

"I think our relationship is important enough to the United States
and Turkey to survive our recognition of the truth," Adam Schiff,
the chief sponsor of the resolution with many Armenian-Americans in
his district, said after the vote.

The committee vote followed hours of sometimes emotional debate over
whether, as the panel’s chairman Tom Lantos said, legislators should
"condemn this historic nightmare through the use of the word genocide"
and put military co-operation with an upset Turkey at risk.

Gregory Meeks, a black Democrat from New York, said congress should
focus on the failings of US history, such as slavery or the killings
of Native Americans.

"We have failed to do what we’re asking other people to do… We have
got to clean up our own house," he said.

The White House was "very disappointed," but a spokesman said Bush
hoped the whole House would reject the bill.

ARMENIA DOESN’T HAVE TERRITORIAL CLAIMS TO ITS NEIGHBORS

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.10.2007 18:26 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ European Parliamentarians queried Armenian Foreign
Minister Vartan Oskanian whether Armenia would seek territorial and
compensation claims along the lines of recognition of the Armenian
Genocide.

While denying any territorial claims, Minister Oskanian pointed to the
Treaty of Kars, which regulates the border between Turkey and Armenia.

"Since this treaty has never been renounced or replaced after the fall
of the Soviet regime and our independence, the borders are clearly
demarcated according to it. Therefore, Turkey has no reason to be
concerned," Oskanian said.

He added that since Armenia does not have such pre-conditions to start
governmental dialogue, Turkey also has to withdraw its pre-condition
of Armenia renouncing ‘genocide claims’ to start dialogue between
the two countries.

Oskanian added that Turkey’s other pre-condition on the Nagorno
Karabakh issue is also unacceptable since this is a bilateral problem
between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

OUTRAGED IRAQIS CONDEMN KILLINGS BY FOREIGN GUARDS

Agence France Presse
Oct 10 2007

BAGHDAD (AFP) – Outraged Iraqi authorities on Wednesday condemned the
killing in Baghdad of two women by foreign security guards but the
Australian-run firm that hired the contractors defended their actions.

"The government and the prime minister and everybody categorically
condemns the actions of this company," the head of Baghdad security,
General Qassim Mussawi, said in a statement.

Tuesday’s shooting came just days after Iraq vowed to punish US firm
Blackwater when a probe found that its guards opened "deliberate" fire
in another incident in Baghdad three weeks ago, killing 17 civilians.

Witnesses to the latest shooting, in Karrada neighbourhood, said a
woman taxi driver mistakenly got too close to a convoy of Dubai-based
Unity Resources Group (URG) and came under immediate gunfire by
the guards.

The taxi driver, an Armenian Christian identified as Maroni Ohannes,
49, and a female passenger died of gunshots to the head. Another woman
passenger was wounded in the shoulder, while a child was injured by
flying glass.

Several witnesses reported barrages of gunfire, and a policeman who
witnessed the shooting said that after blazing away at the car the
foreign security guards sped off "like gangsters."

Commenting on the incident, Unity said "the first information that we
have is that our security team was approached at speed by a vehicle
which failed to stop despite an escalation of warnings which included
hand signals and a signal flare.

"Finally shots were fired at the vehicle and it stopped. Unity is
now working with the Iraqi authorities to determine the outcome of
this incident.

"We deeply regret this incident."

A small group of the dead women’s grieving relatives gathered for
their funerals at the Armenian Church in central Baghdad on Wednesday.

"The incident is a barbarous crime," said one sobbing relative,
Kasbar Boghos. "Those guards are inhuman. They have no pity nor do
they have any religion."

Another, Kevork Armelian, judged the shootings a "crime against
humanity."

"We call on the Iraqi government to put an end to this," Armelian
told AFP. "It was clear that women were inside the car when they
opened fire haphazardly and deliberately.

"We demand the expulsion of the company so that others can learn a
lesson. The Australian government when sending envoys should teach
them human rights — not how to kill innocent people."

The US State Department, whose personnel Blackwater had been escorting
during the earlier incident on September 16, has denied any link
between the latest shooting and the American government.

However, it has emerged that Unity was returning to its headquarters
after transporting members of RTI International, a company under
contract to the US government agency USAID, when the two Iraqi women
were killed.

"No RTI staff members were involved or present when the incident
occurred. Unity was not transporting RTI personnel at the time.

"They had completed a transportation mission and were returning to
their base of operations," Patrick Gibbons, the group’s communications
director, told AFP, while confirming RTI personnel had just been
dropped off.

RTI is a non-profit organisation involved in training Iraqis in local
government management and administration.

"USAID does not direct the security arrangements of contractors,"
US embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo told AFP.

"Contractors are contractually responsible for the safety and well
being of their employees," she said, adding that the State Department
was in contact with the Iraqi authorities about the shooting.

Iraq’s government said on Monday that it was determined to rein
in private security contractors operating in the war-torn country
following the Blackwater shooting, which an Iraqi report said was
unprovoked.

"We have set strict mechanisms to control the behaviour of the
security companies and their conduct in the streets," interior ministry
spokesman Abdul Karim Khalaf said.