US State Department investigators looking into the shooting deaths of 17 Iraqis in Baghdad last month offered immunity deals to Blackwater security guards, the New York Timeshas reported.
But the investigators from the Bureau of Diplomatic Security did not have the authority to offer such immunity grants, the newspaper said, citing US government officials.
The offers represent a potentially serious misstep that could complicate efforts to prosecute Blackwater employees involved in the incident, the newspaper said.
Justice Department prosecutors, who do have the authority to offer such deals, had no advance knowledge of the arrangement, the newspaper said.
Most of the Blackwater guards who took part in the September 16th incident were offered what officials described as limited-use immunity, the report said.
That means the private security guards were promised they would not be prosecuted for anything they said in interviews with the authorities as long as their statements were true, the Timessaid.
The FBI took control of the investigation from the State Department early this month.
Foreign contractors in Iraq are immune from prosecution under Iraqi law under a decree issued by the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority in 2004.
North Carolina-based Blackwater has about 1,000 employees in Iraq who protect US diplomats and other officials.