By John Lee. Prime Minister Mohammed S. Al-Sudani has invited several companies to develop Al-Nisour Square in Baghdad by constructing overpasses, tunnels, and an overpass over the railway towards Umm Al-Tabbul Mosque intersection, and widening the roads adjacent to the project path. The companies are: Transtech Engineers China Railway Sixth Group Co Ltd., China State
Iraq urges US to reconsider pardons for Blackwater guards IANS
Baghdad: The Iraqi government has urged the US to reconsider its decision of granting pardons to four former contractors of private security company Blackwater who were convicted over the 2007 killing of 14 civilians in Baghdad.
In an official statement Wednesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was following up on US President Donald Trump’s decision to pardon the contractors who carried out the massacre September 16, 2007, in Baghdad’s al-Nisour Square, which caused international denouncement, reports Xinhua news agency.
“The Ministry believes that this decision did not take into account the seriousness of the crime committed, and unfortunately ignores the dignity of the victims as well as the feelings and rights of their families,” the statement said.
FBI team leader: How I know the Blackwater defendants didn’t deserve a pardon from Trump
The President of the United States has the power to grant a pardon to anyone he believes deserves one. This is an incredible power when used for good. There are cases where the US justice system gets it wrong and cases where the defendants had served their time and were now doing good things. However, none of those fact patterns are present in President Donald Trump’s pardon of four Blackwater security guards serving time for their involvement in the killing of 17 Iraqis in Baghdad on September 16, 2007.
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Iraqis were bitterly disappointed on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump pardoned four Blackwater security guards given lengthy sentences for killing 14 civilians in Baghdad in 2007.
Hassan Jabir, a survivor of the 2007 Nisour Square massacre in the country s capital, relived the horror of the moment he was shot.
“Blackwater contractors are criminals, they killed innocent people and maimed others,” Mr Jabir told
The National. and sparked outrage in Iraq over the use of private security guards in war zones.
Mr Jabir, who suffered severe injuries to his back, hands and abdomen, said Mr Trump’s decision is a breach of international law and human rights.