Blackwater Heir Wants to Keep State Dept. Security Contract

Despite Eviction From Iraq, Company at Work in Afghanistan

By Spencer Ackerman 8/10/09 6:00 AM

Even as a wrongful-death lawsuit moves forward against the controversial private security company formerly known as Blackwater, the firm seeks to renew its contract with the State Department to guard diplomats when the deal expires next year. And the State Department shows no signs of ruling the company out of competition, despite a high-profile incident in 2007 that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead.

“We welcome the chance to bid on any program,” said Stacy DeLuke, a spokeswoman for the private security company Xe, which changed its name from Blackwater earlier this year, using an acronym for the Worldwide Personal Protective Services contract. Asked if the company was under any restrictions from the State Department following its September 2007 shootout in Baghdad’s Nisour Square — in which its employees shot a family in a car approaching their guards and then opened fire on other cars attempting to flee the scene — DeLuke replied, “I don’t think there have been any restrictions.”