Blackwater protects American institutions and personnel in the West Bank

A spokesman for the Palestinian security services has denied any relationship between the Palestinian Authority and the presence of civilian security officers from Blackwater, the private American company, in occupied Jerusalem and the West Bank. In a statement to Alghad media, Major General Adnan Aldamery said, "We do not have any single link to the issue of Blackwater.

It is an agreement between the US State Department and a security company to protect the consulates, diplomatic missions and American institutions in the West. We are not interfering in this matter; it is diplomatic custom and the US has the right to commission whatever entity it chooses to protect its institutions and its diplomats, and those who visit the West Bank and Gaza as well."

Major General Aldamery denounced the uproar created by Hamas over this agreement. "Does Hamas know whether the guards who accompanied former US President Jimmy Carter when he visited Gaza were from Blackwater or any other security company?" The same applies to all the US delegations visiting the sector, he added, particularly those which include former officials. "All foreign delegations have their own guards with whom we have no formal relationship," he said. In a passing reference to the military wing of Hamas, the General added with some sarcasm, "I do not think that the United States relied on Al-Qassam Brigades to guard Carter or other ex-officials who visited the sector in solidarity with our people there."

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