Islamabad dismisses Blackwater claims

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- There are no foreign security contractors from Xe Services, formerly Blackwater, operating in Pakistani territory, the interior minister said.

Members of the Pakistani Taliban in statements last week said they targeted U.S. military personnel in attacks in the Lower Dir District in Pakistan's North-West Frontier province, calling the attack an act of revenge against Xe contractors.

Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. special envoy to the region, brushed off the Taliban claims as nothing more than propaganda.

Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik faced criticism from lawmakers who said Xe was providing security for the president and prime minister, Pakistan's News International reports.

"The presence of Blackwater people in the country has not been established during investigations," he said.

He went on to describe the allegations as an insult to the country, saying Pakistan is capable of providing security for its own dignitaries.

Maulana Fazal-ur-Rahman, the leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, a Deobandi political party in Pakistan, said there were as many as 9,000 Xe contractors working in Islamabad, compared with just 7,000 capital police.

The deaths in Lower Dir were the first known fatalities for U.S. security forces in Pakistan.