misconduct in Afghanistan by the security company formerly known as
Blackwater.
The review comes a day after a leading Democrat said the Pentagon
should consider barring it from applying for a contract to train
Afghan police.
The Pentagon said it could not bar the company from applying for the
billion-dollar police training contract.
A spokesman for company, now called Xe, said it welcomed the review.
A spokesman for the company, Mark Corallo, said Xe has an excellent
record of training security personnel in Afghanistan.
However, in a letter to Mr Gates at the end of February, Senate Armed
Services Committee chairman Carl Levin cited allegations of misconduct
against the firm made before the committee.
He said there was evidence of misconduct in a previous subcontract
awarded to a Blackwater affiliate to conduct weapons training for the
Afghan National Army.
Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said of Mr Gates' response: "He is
looking into it and he takes it seriously. He shares [Mr Levin's]
concerns."
But he said it was not possible to bar the company without following
strict regulations.
Technical expertise
"You can't willy-nilly choose not to do business with a company," he said.
"There are strict criteria for pursuing debarment. They are afforded
due process. They are afforded legal standards."
Mr Morrell also said that Blackwater has the necessary technical expertise.
"And they have a willingness to work in places that very few companies
are willing to work. So they provide a much-needed service and the
ability to do it well."
The Blackwater company began its work protecting US government
personnel in Iraq following the invasion in 2003.
Anti-American sentiment in Iraq was stoked in December after a US
judge threw out manslaughter charges against five Blackwater guards
over the 2007 killing of 17 Iraqis in Baghdad.
The activities of foreign security firms in Iraq have been curbed since then.
About a month ago, Iraq ordered 250 former and current staff of
Blackwater to leave within a week.
In January 2010, Xe finalised the settlement - for an undisclosed
amount - of a number of lawsuits over the killings of Iraqi civilians.
The civil suits accused Blackwater's founder, Erik Prince, of
cultivating a climate of recklessness.
The lawsuits sought compensation for deaths and injuries incurred in
incidents including the 2007 killings.
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