> The firm, now called the Xe Services, face stiff fines for gun running
> if the charges are proved.

> Earlier this week, Senator John Kerry, who heads the Senate Foreign
> Relations Committee, sent a letter to the State Department saying that
> the committee had been told by a top US official that the company had
> engaged in ‘broad violations’ of export laws and that the unlicensed
> shipments ‘went beyond weapons for personal use’.

> In the letter, Senator Kerry asked the State Department’s acting
> inspector general to begin an investigation into the ‘continued
> fitness’ of Xe Services to carry out contract work for the State
> Department.

> ‘I’ll just confirm we received the letter’, State Department spokesman
> Ian Kelly told a briefing in Washington. ‘The Office of the Inspector
> General has the letter, and I’m sure the Secretary will see it as soon
> as she gets back.’

> The spokesman said that these were ‘very serious allegations’ and the
> department hoped to learn more from the Senate panel about these
> allegations.

> The letter, he said, contained some new information but ‘we are not
> aware of the specifics of these allegations’.

> Meanwhile, the US media reported that Xe executives were already
> talking to US government officials on this issue and their discussions
> could lead to millions of dollars in penalties.

> US government officials and former company employees told the media
> that many of the violations involved arms shipments to Iraq, to outfit
> company security guards operating inside the country.

> In addition, other penalties could result from violations of licensing
> requirements for the transfer of other forms of military technology
> and training expertise to foreign countries.