Charges sought in Iraq Blackwater case

SEATTLE, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- U.S. prosecutors will seek an indictment against a former Blackwater USA employee for allegedly shooting an Iraqi bodyguard to death in Baghdad, sources say.

Citing unnamed sources within the U.S. Justice Department, the Seattle Times reported Monday that after months of sorting out legal jurisdictions and other matters, Seattle prosecutors are moving to bring the case of former Blackwater USA operative Andrew Moonen, 28, to a grand jury.

Moonen is accused of the 2006 shooting death of Raheem Khalif, a 32-year-old security guard for Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi, after a drunken Christmas party in Baghdad's secure Green Zone, the newspaper said.

A memo by the Congressional Committee on Oversight and Government Reform indicates Moonen allegedly got into a confrontation with Khalif outside the vice president's quarters and shot him three times with a handgun. Khalif died the following day.

Stewart Riley, Moonen's lawyer, confirmed to the Times that he has received a letter from the U.S. Attorney's Office declaring the government's intent to charge his client.