14 of 17 Iraqi civilian killings by Blackwater guards unjustified: reports

A spokeswoman for Blackwater Worldwide said the U.S. private security company supports "stringent accountability" if any wrongdoingby its guardsisfound, but she said little else in response to a news report that the FBI has found the killing of at least 14 Iraqi civilians on Sept. 16was unjustified.

The FBI investigation into theshootingof Iraqi civilians by the security contractors, who wereguarding a U.S. embassy convoy in Baghdad's Nisoor Square, is still underway, but The New York Times reported Wednesday that the U.S. Justice Department is already reviewing the findings.

Citing unnamed civilian and military officials briefed on the case, the newspaper said the shootings of 14 of the 17 slain Iraqi civilians were found to be unjustified and violated laws governing the use of deadly force.

Under U.S. firearms rules, the contractors are only allowed to use lethal force in response to an "imminent threat of deadly force or serious physical injury"to them orthose under their protection.

TheFBI found that three of the Iraqis killed might have been perceived to be a threat, the newspaper reports.

Two of them were in a white Kia sedan that moved toward the square once traffic had been stopped to allow the convoy through. The third person was an unidentified man who was killed nearby, the Times reports.

The Times also reported that investigators found as many as five guards opened fire during the shooting, but one became the focus of the probe because that guard was responsible for several deaths.

An earlier military review came to a harsher conclusion that all the killings were unjustified and potentially criminal.

Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell responded to the report by saying the company "supports the stringent accountability of the industry."

"If it is determined that one person was complicit in the wrongdoing, we would support accountability in that. The key people in this have not spoken with investigators," she said.

She added that the company will withhold further comment until the findings are made public.

A U.S. government officialtold the Associated Press that no conclusions have been reached about the fatalities.

Blackwater has defended its guards' actions, saying the convoy was attacked before they opened fire, but the Iraqi government's investigation found the shootings were unprovoked.