Private contractors' legal fate debated

WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- The U.S. Defense Department said that private armed security contractors working in Iraq should be coordinated under a single authority.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is moving for possible military control over the roughly 10,000 private contractors now working for the United States government in Iraq, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

The move is meeting resistance from State Department officials who contract private security firms such as Blackwater USA to provide security for its diplomats in Iraq.

Private security firms are typically under the authority of the contracting party and the move by the Defense Department would place them under a single authority, the Times said.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill this month holding U.S. government contractors accountable to U.S. civilian law and a similar bill is awaiting Senate action.

U.S. military and Iraqi government officials continued to express frustration over the lack of control over private armed contractors, the Times said.

On Sept. 16, guards with the firm Blackwater USA were involved in a shooting incident in which 17 Iraqi civilians were killed, sparking scrutiny over contractors role in military operations in Iraq.