NATIONAL BRIEFING / WASHINGTON, D.C.
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The U.S. State Department said it would not renew Blackwater Worldwide’s contract to protect American diplomats in Iraq when it expires in May.
“The department notified Blackwater in writing on Thursday that it did not plan to renew the company’s existing task orders for protective security detail in Iraq,” said Joanne Moore, a State Department spokeswoman.
She said the contract would lapse because of the Iraqi government’s decision to deny Blackwater a license to operate.
The Iraqis informed the State Department last week of the denial, which was made amid lingering outrage over a September 2007 shooting in Baghdad’s Nisoor Square that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead.
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