Witnesses: Iraqis didn't fire on guards

BAGHDAD, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- Iraqi forces held their fire as Blackwater security guards shot into a crowd in Baghdad, five alleged witnesses claim.

"The Iraqi security forces had the right to shoot at them when they saw the (Blackwater) convoy shooting at the people, but they did not shoot at the convoy," said Ahmed Ali Jassim, 19, a maintenance worker who said he saw the Sept. 16 incident.

The account contradicts initial reports from Blackwater and the U.S. State Department, which maintain Blackwater guards were returning fire when they shot into the crowd, killing at least 11 Iraqis, The Washington Post reported Saturday.

The latest accounts came as a State Department panel traveled to Baghdad Saturday to investigate the incident and assess whether the system of using private security firms should be altered or scrapped, the Post reported.