WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The State Department will renew its contract with Blackwater to provide security in Iraq, Greg Starr, acting assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security, said Friday.
No provisions have been added to the contract, Starr said, but Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ordered several changes to procedure after a September incident in which Blackwater guards shot and killed 17 people, including women and children.
The incident placed the operations of Blackwater and other security firms under scrutiny in Iraq, where an estimated 25,000 private contractors protect diplomats, reconstruction workers and government officials. Under a provision instituted in the early days of the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq, security contractors have immunity from Iraqi law.
The five-year State Department contract, which began in 2006, must be renewed every year and is up for renewal next month. Starr said, in effect, Blackwater's contract will roll over for another year.
Blackwater is one of three contractors working under a "task order" to provide security services in Iraq. The other two are Triple Canopy and DynCorp.
An agreement, or memorandum of understanding, between the State Department and U.S. military calls for a higher level of coordination and supervision of contractors, Starr said.
Blackwater still has to work under the rules of the Iraqi government, he said.
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