BAGHDAD, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- Employees who worked for the private military contractor once known as Blackwater have been ordered out of Iraq, the country's interior minister announced.
Minister Jawad al-Bolani told the state television network al-Iraqiya the approximately 250 workers have seven days to leave Iraq, CNN reported Thursday.
Iraqi outrage against Blackwater dates to a September 2007 shooting involving its contractors in Baghdad that left 17 civilians dead.
A December decision by a U.S. judge to dismiss manslaughter charges against five of the employees involved in the shooting led to renewed outrage, CNN said.
In January the Iraqi government declared Blackwater employees were no longer welcomed in the country.
Blackwater, now known as Xe, transferred its last contracts in Iraq to other companies, but Iraqi authorities say about 250 former workers remain, some employed by other security firms.
"I don't think the Iraqi government is willing to have any Blackwater member, even if they are working in other companies," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in January. "We don't like to see them here working in any company."
