2 ex-contractors arrested in deaths

RALEIGH, N.C. - Two former Blackwater contractors were arrested yesterday on murder charges in the shooting of two Afghans after a traffic accident last year, according to a federal indictment.

The indictment unsealed hours after the arrests charges Justin Cannon, 27, and Chris Drotleff, 29, with second-degree murder, attempted murder, and weapons charges. FBI agents arrested both without incident, said Peter Carr, a spokesman with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Virginia's Eastern District.

Both men have told the Associated Press that they were justified in opening fire on a car that caused an accident in front of their vehicle, then turned and sped toward them. The indictment says the shooting at a Kabul intersection killed two people. At least one other person was injured.

"I feel comfortable firing my weapon any time I feel my life is in danger," Drotleff said in a recent interview. "That night, my life was 100 percent in danger."

The arrests came a day after Xe, the company formerly known as Blackwater, settled a series of federal lawsuits alleging that illegal activity by the company led to the deaths of dozens of Iraqis. Those killings and other problems in Iraq have strained relations between Washington and Baghdad and led to the U.S. government's push to increase oversight of contractors in war zones.

U.S. officials have struggled to demonstrate that they have both the legal grounds and political fortitude to hold contractors accountable. Several Blackwater contractors had been charged with 14 counts of manslaughter for their role in a 2007 shooting in Baghdad's Nisoor Square, but a judge dropped those charges last week.

In another case, federal prosecutors have told a Seattle lawyer that they intend to charge another Blackwater contractor in the killing of an Iraqi guard in 2006.

The company said it was pleased with the settlement of the lawsuits and was ready to move on, declining to release its full terms. Xe declined to comment on yesterday's indictment other than to say that the men were fired and that the company "immediately and fully cooperated with the government's investigation."

Cannon, of Corpus Christi, Texas, and Drotleff, of Virginia Beach, Va., were among four contractors fired after the shooting for failing to comply with the terms of their contract with Paravant, a Xe subsidiary.

Steve McClain, another former contractor who was with Cannon and Drotleff during the shootings, said that he spent about 90 minutes before a Virginia grand jury this week detailing his recollections of what happened.

Cannon, Drotleff, and McClain said in separate interviews over the last month that they were driving along a Kabul road on the night of May 5 when a speeding car slammed into the first vehicle of their convoy, causing it to flip.

Cannon and Drotleff were traveling in another vehicle and got out to help. They both said the car that caused the accident turned and started speeding toward them. Fearing for their lives, they said, both opened fire, with Drotleff emptying a 16-round clip. Cannon was unsure how many shots were fired.

"My conscience is clear about it, but that doesn't really matter," Cannon said. "If someone's got an agenda, then there's nothing I can do about it."