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KIRAN
CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. New this
morning, a security agreement between the U.S. and
Iraqi forces is "almost finalized." That's according
to Iraq's foreign minister. And as part of that deal,
private security contractors in Iraq will no longer
be immune to Iraqi prosecution. Immunity became a
sticking point after a deadly shooting involving
Blackwater contractors.
Joining me now with more on this, CNN Baghdad
correspondent Michael Ware, who's actually here in
New York for a change.
MICHAEL WARE, CNN BAGHDAD CORRESPONDENT: Happy to be
so, yes.
CHETRY: On a one-month reprieve, if you will.
About this agreement that they were struggling to
hammer out, it looks like they're now nearing an
agreement on this. What does it mean on the ground
there?
WARE: What it's going to mean is that in the broader
sense of this agreement the Iraqis are very much
taking more and more control of the war. And come the
end of the year, America's mandate from the U.N. to
run this war ends.
Now, the role of private security firms is one of
many issues involved in this agreement. And we heard
from the Iraqi foreign minister that on this issue
they may have made some headway. What it's going to
mean is that any of these former American soldiers,
Australian soldiers, British soldiers, who are now in
these private security firms, when they're operating
in Iraq as of next year they shall be liable to Iraqi
law.
And there's very little that America can do about
that in many ways. Legally, Iraq is a sovereign
state. It does not want armed gunmen running around
its country for whatever purpose and have no control
over them.
So this is something that's going to be difficult for
America to resist. But it's going to have significant
implications for the firms who need to contract these
security officers to protect what they're doing:
infrastructure rebuilding, delivering aid, whatever
it may be. It's going to change the nature of the
whole environment for these security firms.
CHETRY: Well, I mean, you might be less likely to
sign up if you fear that you...
WARE: Absolutely.
CHETRY: ... you could end up going the way of Saddam
Hussein.
WARE: Absolutely. I mean, can you imagine your fate
if you're thrust before an Iraqi court? What's the
nature of the evidence? What's the onus of proof?
CHETRY: So what will we see? Will we see more Iraqis,
perhaps, being contractors and security contractors?
Will we see less American contractors there in these
security roles?
WARE: Well, it's hard to say at this stage. I mean,
certainly there's Iraqi security firms who would like
to step up. But the question is, the western
companies who are trying to go in there to do
business, who are trying to get infrastructure
contracts, who are trying to assist with government
development, are they going to be happy with Iraqi
security firms?
I mean, the police, the army, all the government
institutions, they're infiltrated by the militias and
the insurgents. So how is anyone going to trust a
security firm?
CHETRY: Speaking of that, I want to ask you about,
you talked about some of these firms getting in there
and trying to help the Iraqis with their
infrastructure. One big thing is these oil contracts.
WARE: Yes.
CHETRY: And there's been some controversy about the
fact that many of these, at least short-term
contracts are going to U.S. and European oil
companies. What is the rub with that? What's going
on?
WARE: Well, according to the Iraqi government line,
these are just stop-gap measures. These are
short-term contracts to just keep the oil
infrastructure running. This is to repair and
maintain. Now, the long-term contracts, which are
much broader and would be the grand prize for these
companies, are yet to happen.
The short-term contracts were awarded without
bidding. Now, the full contracts are open to bids.
There's 30-odd international companies -- Russian,
Asian, all sorts -- who shall be entering that
bidding process. However, you would have to imagine
that anyone who gets one of these short-term
contracts will at least have a foot in the door when
it comes time to play for the main game. Which will
be those big, long-term contracts.
CHETRY: All right. So, we'll have to wait and see. A
couple of weeks away. They're supposed to be
preparing their bids at this point. So, we'll see
what happens with that. Great to see you, by the way,
Michael.
WARE: It's great to be here, I can't tell you.
CHETRY: And I know you're here for a month and then
you're headed back.
WARE: Yeah, well, it's always Iraq.
CHETRY: Thanks a lot, Michael.
WARE: Thank you, Kiran.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN, ANCHOR: Welcome back, mate. Good
to have you here.