Defense lawyers for the ex-Blackwater security guards accused of killing 14 Iraqis in Baghdad nearly seven years ago are raising the possibility that prosecution witnesses, with direction from Iraqi law enforcement investigators, have orchestrated their stories.
The defense has been bedeviled by the fact that no one has come forward to support its self-defense theory that the guards acted because they were under attack.
The most prevalent explanation since the shootings on Sept. 16, 2007, is that there were no incoming shots.
The carnage at Nisoor Square turned out to be the darkest episode of contractor violence during the war and inflamed anti-American feelings around the world.
The trial, which began June 11 and is expected to last months, could feature the largest group of foreign witnesses ever to travel to the US to participate in a criminal trial, according to the Justice Department.
The first witness to testify, a man whose 9-year-old son was killed at the square, told an intriguing tale this past week about money and contacts between the victims' families and a top Iraqi investigator who looked into the shootings.
Mohammad Kinani Al-Razzaq broke down and sobbed uncontrollably about the loss of his son, leaving the jury with an indelible picture of grief.
Under cross-examination the following day, Kinani recounted how Iraqi law enforcement officials ran a TV ad for anyone with information about the shootings to get in touch. Kinani said he did so, meeting with Col. Faris Karim of Iraq's national police.
When the two met shortly after the shootings, there were other people there who said they also had been at Nisoor Square. An American Army officer instructed those gathered not to share information about what they had seen, Kinani testified.
"We did tell each other, for example, I would say, 'My son got killed.' The other one says, 'My brother got injured,' or so on," Kinani said.
"And everyone agreed that this convoy" of four armored Blackwater vehicles "did not take any incoming fire, correct?" Kinani was asked.
"Yes, of course," he answered.
So "the lead police officer investigating this case ... tells you and others, none of my men shot out there, correct?" Kinani was asked.
"Yes," Kinani said.
"Col. Faris told you and other witnesses at Nisoor Square that the police officers that were on the scene did not shoot at the convoy, correct?" Kinani was asked.
