US prosecutors focus on Blackwater case in Iraq

Washington: US prosecutors have sent letters to six Blackwater security guards, possibly as a prelude to indictments for a shooting incident that killed 17 Iraqi civilians in September, The Washington Post reported on Sunday.

The newspaper, citing sources close to the case, said prosecutors still are considering evidence after a 10-month FBI investigation of the shooting, which broke out as Blackwater guards escorted a US State Department convoy through Baghdad.

The guards from the North Carolina-based private security firm said they fired in self-defence but an Iraqi government investigation said there was no provocation.

The Post said the "target letters" sent to the Blackwater employees offer them a chance to contest evidence and present their own version of the incident.

The September shooting enraged the Iraqi government, which wanted to put contractors under Iraqi legal jurisdiction.