WASHINGTON, Aug 24: The US State Department said on Monday that Xe, the controversial private security firm formerly known as Blackwater, had agreed to pay 42 million dollars in fines to settle alleged export violations.

It said the civil settlement was reached for 288 violations “involving the unauthorised export of defence articles and provision of defence services to foreign end-users” in a number of countries between 2003 and 2009.

“These violations did not involve sensitive technologies or cause a known harm to national security,” the State Department said in a statement.

Many of the alleged breaches occurred while Xe, which protects US officials in Iraq and Afghanistan, was “providing services in support of US government programs and military operations abroad”, it said

The State Department said that because the firm had taken steps to tackle the causes of its violations, it would not be considered ineligible for future contracts.

It said that Xe agreed to “an aggregate civil penalty of 42 million dollars”, but 12 million dollars of it will be suspended to make up for the compliance measures it takes.

Despite a murky history, Xe is doing brisk business with the US government, including a 100-million-dollar contract with the CIA that unleashed a furious response from lawmakers in June.

CIA chief Leon Panetta said his agency did not have much choice but to turn to Xe among the few companies that provide the needed security services in war zones after it underbid other competitors. —AFP