The US House of Representatives announced on Thursday that it has passed a bill to make all private security contractors in Iraq and other combat zones subject to prosecution by US courts.

The bill was passed by voting 389 to 30 as the first major legislation of its kind to be approved since the US Blackwater security company was involved into a deadly shoot-out in September, leaving at least 11 Iraqis dead.

"There is simply no excuse for the de facto legal immunity for tens of thousands of individuals working in countries" on behalf of the United States, said Democratic Representative. Sheila Jackson-Lee.

Senate Democratic leaders said they planned to pass the law quickly and send the measure to President George W. Bush to sign into law.

The bill is aimed at filling out the vacuum in law to cover the personnel abroad not hired directly by the military.

The current law, called the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, covers personnel supporting the mission of Defense Department operations overseas but whether charges can be brought against any of the contractors protecting State Department officials such as Blackwater is unclear.

At the same time, US contractors are immune from prosecution by Iraqi courts.

The White House Wednesday said they support the intent of the bill, although it was poorly-drafted and could have "unintended and intolerable consequences for crucial and necessary national security activities and operations."

Blackwater founder Erik Prince told a House panel Tuesday that he supports expanding the law.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is currently leading an investigation into the Sept. 16 shoot-out by Blackwater employees in Baghdad, said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack on Thursday.

But he stressed that the step did not necessarily imply that the investigation would result in criminal charges being brought against the contractors.

The Blackwater, established in 1997, is the biggest of the State Department's three private security contractors and has won government contracts worth more than US$1 billion since 2001.

Blackwater has been involved in 195 shooting incidents since 2005, or roughly 1.4 per week, according to a report by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released on Monday.

"In the vast majority of instances in which Blackwater fired shots, Blackwater is firing from a moving vehicle and does not remain at the scene to determine if the shots resulted in casualties," said the report.
 
(Xinhua News Agency October 5, 2007)