Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Security firm denies criminal allegation

|
|
 
  
Chairman of Blackwater USA Erik Prince testifies before a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on private security contracting in Iraq in Washington on October 2, 2007. (UPI Photo/Kevin Dietsch) 
Published: Aug. 6, 2009 at 2:18 AM

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 6 (UPI) -- Xe, a private security firm formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide, has denied claims in court documents that its founder engaged in criminal activity in Iraq.

The allegations are contained in affidavits filed in Virginia in a lawsuit brought by two former employees of Blackwater. The plaintiffs -- who are identified only as John Doe 1 and John Doe 2 -- accuse Blackwater founder and former Chief Executive Officer Erik Prince of murder and other serious crimes in Iraq, CNN reported.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Virginia on behalf of Iraqi families who say relatives were killed by Blackwater personnel.

Xe issued a statement saying it would file a brief Aug. 17 in response "to the anonymous unsubstantiated and offensive assertions put forward by the plaintiffs."

The firm was contracted until May by the U.S. State Department to provide security in Iraq. The government did not renew the contract, CNN said.

Recommended Stories
© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
The Tibetan Moniam Festival in China Super Bowl XLVI ticker tape victory parade Proposition 8 ruled unconstitutional in California
AARP Movies for Grownups Award Gala The Most Desirable Women of 2012 Snowy Owls make appearance in Washington
Additional Top News Stories
1 of 15
Rose McGowan at The Heart Truth's Red Dress Fall 2012 Collections at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week In New York
View Caption
fark
Bus driver rescues students on her elementary school bus after kid's science project goes critical,...
The most amazing portraits created with packing tape you will see all day
According to the United States Census Bureau, when a child is being watched by his father, that's...
You put a guy named Skeeter in charge of your charitable fund, of COURSE he's going to blow your...
Subby, for one, welcomes our new Pennsylvania Purple Squirrel overlords (with purple-pic)
The toughest place to be a train driver