Iraqi Nixes Blackwater Settlement Offer

An Iraqi injured by the US private security firm once known as Blackwater today rejected a compensation deal for injuries he suffered after company employees opened fire in a crowded Baghdad square. "We have rejected the settlement because it is a small amount. We won't accept such an amount," said Mahdi Abdul-Kadir. None of the plaintiffs had yet received any money from the group, now known as Xe Services, he said.

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 US federal judge threw out criminal charges against Blackwater, citing mistakes by prosecutors and infuriating Iraqis who had long held that security firms are above the law. A 2007 report called Blackwater out-of-control and indifferent to Iraqi civilian casualties.