Iraqi in Blackwater shooting case rejects compensation deal, calls for government intervention
By APSunday, January 10, 2010
Iraqi in Blackwater case rejects compensation deal
BAGHDAD — An Iraqi says he will not accept a compensation deal for injuries he suffered after the U.S. private security firm once known as Blackwater opened fire in a crowded Baghdad square.
Mahdi Abdul-Khadir says Blackwater’s offer was too low and has asked the deputy speaker of the Iraqi parliament to cancel the agreement that the plaintiff’s lawyer Susan Burke reached Jan. 6.
He added Sunday that none of the plaintiffs had yet received any money from the group, now known as Xe Services.
Another plaintiff had said the company had offered $30,000 for each person wounded in the 2007 incident in Nisoor Square and $100,000 to the families of the 17 killed.
On Dec. 31 a U.S. federal judge threw out criminal charges against the company, citing mistakes by prosecutors.
