After Afghanistan, Iraq, Infamous Blackwater in West Bank
The US State Department signed an 84 million dollar a year contract with a company tightly affiliated with the infamous Blackwater security firm to provide "security services in the West Bank" over the next five years, the Washington Post said Monday.
Blackwater was previously hired by the US for security in Iraq and Afghanistan and linked to several atrocities there and later changed its name to Xe Services.
The contract was won by International Developments Solutions (IDS), a joint venture that includes U.S. Training Center and a company once known to be linked to Blackwater which still employs its agents.
According to the paper State Department spokesman Mark Toner said that the group will provide protective security in the "Israel"-occupied West Bank, for services extended by the U.S. Consulate in Al Quds (Jerusalem).
Blackwater had been fined 42 million dollars by the US for exporting illegal arms to Afghanistan, offering to train forces in southern Sudan without authority, and training Taiwan police officers to sharp shoot.
In spite of its legal troubles, Blackwater-affiliated firms have continued to win government contracts. Last June, Xe Services scored a $100 million contract from the CIA to provide services in Afghanistan. Later in October, Xe won a share of a $10 billion State Department contract for worldwide protective services.
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