Immunity row tangles Blackwater shooting inquiry

US officials were coming under pressure today to declare if they had given guards from the controversial Blackwater private security firm immunity from prosecution.

The company, which provides bodyguards for US officials, is at the centre of several inquiries into the deaths of Iraqi civilians

Critics said a State Department promise of immunity has caused confusion among other government bodies involved in the issue and could make it impossible to bring prosecutions over the shooting of 17 Iraqis.

The immunity deal has already delayed a criminal inquiry into the killings.

State Department officials refused to confirm or deny that immunity had been granted. One said: “If in fact such a decision was made, it was done without any input or authorisation from any senior State Department official in Washington.”

The FBI took over the shootings investigation earlier this month and agents have just returned from Baghdad, where they have been trying to collect evidence without using statements from Blackwater employees who were given immunity by other government officials.

Three senior law enforcement officials said all the bodyguards involved were given the legal protection as investigators from the Bureau of Diplomatic Security sought to find out what happened. The bureau is an arm of the State Department.

The FBI has re-interviewed some of the Blackwater employees, and one official said that several have refused to answer questions, citing their constitutional right to avoid self-incrimination. Any statements that the guards give to the FBI could be used to bring criminal charges.

Prosecutors will have to prove that any evidence they use in bringing charges against Blackwater employees was uncovered without using the guards’ statements to State Department investigators. They “have to show we got the information independently,” one official said.

It is not clear why the Diplomatic Security investigators agreed to give immunity to the bodyguards, or who authorised the move.