John Ashcroft joins Xe

MOYOCK, N.C. (AP) - Former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft is joining the security firm once known as Blackwater.

Investment group USTC Holdings, LLC, said Wednesday that Ashcroft is serving as an independent director for Moyock-based Xe (ZEE) Services.

The director positions were created in December when USTC purchased Xe. The private company became famous as Blackwater, which provided guards and services to the U.S. government in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

The company has been trying to rehabilitate its image since a 2007 shooting in Baghdad that killed 17 people, outraged the Iraqi government and led to federal charges against several Blackwater guards.

Those accusations were thrown out after a judge found prosecutors mishandled evidence, but the case was resurrected last month by a federal appeals court.