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Blackwater chairman defends his company
Summary Box: Blackwater Chief Testifies
Edwards: Limit Private Security Firms
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SEATTLE (AP) -- A Justice Department team has traveled to Iraq to investigate the fatal shooting of an Iraqi guard by a security contractor, hastening the resolution of questions about whether U.S. attorneys can prosecute him, an official said Thursday.
The contractor, Andrew Moonen of Seattle, was fired by Blackwater USA but never prosecuted and eventually given an overseas job by another contractor. The shooting outraged Iraqis, who questioned how an American could go free under such circumstances.
The team sent to Iraq included two federal prosecutors, a Seattle FBI agent and a prosecutor from Justice's domestic security section in Washington, D.C., U.S. Attorney Jeff Sullivan in Seattle told The Associated Press.
They were scheduled to leave Baghdad on Friday after spending a week in Iraq, Sullivan said.
The trip followed a long analysis of whether U.S. prosecutors can bring charges if there is evidence of a crime. It also involved months of logistical planning and represents a significant step in determining whether Moonen will be charged.
Sullivan said he expects to make a decision by summer's end.
"I believe at this point we have jurisdiction, but if we charge this case, that will be one of the issues that has to be litigated," Sullivan said.
"I think they were able to interview most of the witnesses they needed to talk to, and that should put me in a position to make a knowledgeable decision," the prosecutor said.
The case, like the shooting deaths of 17 Iraqi civilians by Blackwater guards last September, highlights the murky issue of whether security contractors can be held liable for actions in the war zone.
By U.S. order, the contractors are immune from Iraqi law. But the U.S. Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act of 2000 provides that any member of the military, Department of Defense worker or contractor, or anyone "supporting the mission of the Department of Defense overseas," can be prosecuted in the U.S. for crimes committed abroad.
Blackwater has a