6 Blackwater guards may get life in prison – U.S. prosecutor

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: A U.S. prosecutor on Saturday said that six Blackwater guards involved in al-Nissor Square shooting may face verdicts that vary between 30 years in jail up to life in prison. “If the accusations are proved, the verdict may reach life in prison, but if they are not, then shooters may spend 30 years in jail,” the prosecutor said in a press conference in Baghdad. “The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) would have been unable to obtain the petition of this case without the help of the Iraqi Ministry of Interior, a number of wounded victims, in addition to eyewitnesses,” he said. “The accusation was addressed to six Blackwater guards,” he added. “One of them admitted to pre-meditated murder,” he noted. On September 16, 2007, Blackwater personnel opened fire on innocent civilian Iraqis at al-Nissor Square in Baghdad, Killing 14 and wounding 20 others. MH (P)/SR 1