State Department Upholds Blackwater 'License to Kill'

The US State Department refuses to waive the right for private security contractor Xe Services LLC, formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide, to carry arms in Iraq.

The company, notorious for its treating the license as an excuse for trigger-ready atrocities, is accordingly to remain armed in the country until September, The Nation said on Friday.

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Afghans Riot Over Air-strike Atrocity

Shouting "Death to America" and "Death to the Government", thousands of Afghan villagers hurled stones at police yesterday as they vented their fury at American air strikes that local officials claim killed 147 civilians.

The riot started when people from three villages struck by US bombers in the early hours of Tuesday, brought 15 newly-discovered bodies in a truck to the house of the provincial governor. As the crowd pressed forward in Farah, police opened fire, wounding four protesters. Traders in the rest of Farah city, the capital of the province of the same name where the bombing took place, closed their shops, vowing they would not reopen them until there is an investigation.

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