Blackwater guard in Iraq reportedly said "stop shooting"

By David Clarke

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A Blackwater security guard screamed at colleagues to "stop shooting" in an incident that left 11 Iraqi civilians dead, enraged the government and sparked reviews of security firms in Iraq, U.S. media said on Friday.

The Washington Post and The New York Times quoted unnamed U.S. officials saying they had been told at least one employee of the private American security firm pointed a gun at a fellow guard to try and curb the shooting in Baghdad on September 16.

Blackwater, one of the biggest private security operators in Iraq, employing 1,000 people, has said its guards reacted lawfully to an attack on a U.S. convoy. It was not immediately available for comment on Friday's media reports.

Citing a two-page U.S. embassy report, The Washington Post described an afternoon of mayhem including a car bomb, a shootout at a crowded junction and a standoff between Iraqi soldiers and Blackwater guards, eventually ended by U.S. troops.

"We're not commenting on the substance of the investigation," a spokeswoman for the U.S. embassy said.

Iraq has called the incident a flagrant assault and there are now several separate investigations, including a joint Iraqi-U.S. commission looking at private security firms used to protect U.S. government staff in Iraq.

Iraq says there are more than 180 mainly U.S. and European security companies in Iraq, with estimates of the number of private contractors ranging from 25,000 to 48,000.

Under a 2004 rule, the firms are immune from Iraqi law.