WASHINGTON — State Department officials said today they have extended a contract with a subsidiary of the security firm once known as Blackwater USA despite the fact the company is not allowed to work in the country.
Three officials said the contract with Presidential Airways to provide air support for U.S. diplomats was temporarily extended because the firm chosen to replace it is not yet ready to take over. The contract was due to expire on Sept. 3 and be taken over a day later by Dyncorp International.
Presidential is the air wing of Xe Services, which used to be known as Blackwater. The Iraqi government refused to grant the company an operating license earlier this year amid continued outrage over a 2007 lethal firefight involving some of its employees in Baghdad.
One official said that providing helicopter air support for American diplomats in Iraq — transporting them and overflying their convoys — is a “complex challenge” and that “a slower transition to DynCorp taking over the task order is in the best interest of the government.”
“We unilaterally extended the current task order … to ensure the continued security and safety of U.S.personnel in Iraq,” the official said.
All three officials said Iraqi authorities had been informed of the extension, which was first reported by ABC News on its website. “They understand the need for additional time to get this right,” said one.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the contract publicly. They said they did not expect the extension to last beyond six months.
The State Department had informed Blackwater in January that it would not renew its contracts to provide security for U.S. diplomats in Iraq because of the Iraqi government’s refusal to grant it an operating license.
The Presidential Airways contract was the last of those contracts to expire. Blackwater guards stopped protecting American diplomats in al Hillah, Najaf and Karbala, all south of Baghdad, in August.
Iraqis had long complained about incidents involving Blackwater’s ground operations. Then a shooting by Blackwater guards in Baghdad’s Nisoor Square in September 2007 left 17 civilians dead, further strained relations between Baghdad and Washington and led U.S. prosecutors to bring charges against the Blackwater contractors involved.
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