**Iraq has ordered 250 former and current staff of US security firm Blackwater to leave within a week, a minister says.**Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani told the Associated Press news agency that all “concerned parties” were notified of the order three days ago.
It comes after a US judge last month threw out manslaughter charges against five Blackwater guards over the 2007 killing of 17 Iraqis in Baghdad.
The incident stoked anti-American sentiment in Iraq.
The activities of foreign security firms in Iraq have been curbed since then.
US Vice-President Joe Biden has said the US government will appeal against the court ruling.