Iraq to review ALL security firms-accountability finally?

Iraq to review all security firms
Blackwater guards in Baghdad (2005)
As many as 20,000 private security contractors are working in Iraq

Iraq has said it will review the status of all private security firms operating in the country after a gunfight in Baghdad left eight civilians dead.

The Iraqi government said it wanted to determine whether such contractors were operating in compliance with Iraqi law.

The review comes a day after the Iraqi authorities ordered the US-based firm, Blackwater USA, to suspend all operations and leave Iraq immediately.

Blackwater has said its guards acted in self-defence in Sunday's incident.

But the Iraqi interior ministry has claimed the men fired "randomly at citizens" in a crowded square in the capital, killing innocent bystanders and a policeman.

The Blackwater guards were protecting a convoy carrying officials from the US state department at the time.

Unclear status

The Iraqi government's spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, said its decision to review the status of Private Security Companies (PSCs) was prompted by the "flagrant assault... on Iraqi citizens" on Sunday.

more...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7000642.stm

and is immune from any prosecution. From the New York Times:

...A spokesman for the Iraqi government, Ali al-Dabbag, said that the cabinet met today and supported the decision to cancel Blackwater’s license and begin an immediate investigation. The ministry has said that it would prosecute the participants in the shooting, but a law issued by the American occupation authority prior to the return of sovereignty to Iraq in 2004 grants American contractors, along with American military personnel, immunity from Iraqi prosecution.

Mr. Dabbag said the investigation should “compel the company to respect the Iraqi laws, citizens’ dignity and the results and consequences the investigation would come up with.”The statement by the Iraqi government today seemed to blame Blackwater employees directly for the deaths, calling it a “vicious assault which was carried out by the employees of the American security company” against Iraqi citizens.

But American officials have stopped short of saying whether the Blackwater guards in the diplomatic motorcade had caused any of the deaths.

In a statement today, the anti-American Shiite cleric, Moktada al-Sadr, called for an investigation and said that the government should annul “this company’s and all other intelligence and criminal companies’ contracts.” ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/18/world/middleeast/18cnd-iraq.html