Iraq aims to end immunity of security firms

By Mussab Al-Khairalla and Paul Tait

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq wants to tighten control over security contractors after a deadly shooting incident involving the U.S. firm Blackwater, ending their long immunity from Iraqi prosecution, the Interior Ministry said on Friday.

Blackwater guards were back on the streets of Baghdad on Friday after the U.S. embassy eased a three-day ban on road travel by U.S. officials outside the capital's heavily fortified Green Zone.

Interior Ministry spokesman Major-General Abdul-Kareem Khalaf said the ministry had drafted legislation giving it wider powers over the contractors and calling for "severe punishment for those who fail to adhere to the ... guidelines".

Iraq has said it would review the status of all security firms after what it called a flagrant assault by Blackwater contractors in which 11 people were killed while the firm was escorting a U.S. embassy convoy through Baghdad on Sunday.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki suggested the U.S. embassy should stop using Blackwater and said he would not allow Iraqis to be killed "in cold blood".

U.S. embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo said the decision to allow "mission essential" trips, some guarded by Blackwater, was taken after consultation with Iraqi authorities.

"There isn't a lot of movement in general ... But it is likely Blackwater will support some of them," she said.

The shooting has incensed Iraqis who regard the tens of thousands of security contractors working in the country as private armies that act with impunity.