Baghdad: Iraq has ordered about 250 former and current employees of Blackwater Worldwide to leave the country within seven days or face having their visas pulled.
The order comes in the wake of a US judge dismissing criminal charges against five Blackwater guards who were accused in the September 2007 shooting deaths of 17 Iraqis in Baghdad.
The shooting inflamed anti-American sentiment in Iraq.
Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani said on Wednesday that the order targets security contractors who worked for Blackwater at the time of the shootout. He said all "concerned parties" were notified of the order three days ago.
Blackwater, which at the time protected US diplomats in Iraq, is now known as Xe Services.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, February 11, 2010, 10:30