<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Blackwater protects American institutions and personnel in the West&nbsp;Bank]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<div class="article-toolswrap">
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<div class="article-meta"><span class="createdate"> Friday, 14 January 2011 11:40 </span></div>
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<p><img title="Blackwater protects American institutions and personnel in the West Bank" src="https://i2.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/images/article_images/news/middle-east/blackwater-logo.jpg" border="0" alt="Blackwater protects American institutions and personnel in the West Bank" hspace="10" vspace="10" width="250" height="274" align="left" />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, &#8220;We do not have any  single link to the issue of Blackwater.</p>
<p>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.&#8221;</p>
<p>Major General Aldamery  denounced the uproar created by Hamas over this agreement. &#8220;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?&#8221; The same applies to all the US delegations visiting the  sector, he added, particularly those which include former officials.  &#8220;All foreign delegations have their own guards with whom we have no  formal relationship,&#8221; he said. In a passing reference to the military  wing of Hamas, the General added with some sarcasm, &#8220;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.&#8221;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/1954-blackwater-protects-american-institutions-and-personnel-in-the-west-bank">Blackwater protects American institutions and personnel in the West Bank</a>.</p>
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