CIA to develop the capacity to conduct training , surveillance and possible covert operations overseas , according to the source . The program was outsourced to contractors to `` put some distance '' between the effort and the U.S. government . Other contractors were brought in for other parts of the program , another source said , and Blackwater 's involvement ended by mid-2006 . But one thing is clear : The company that renamed itself Xe earlier this year in an effort to escape controversy surrounding a 2007 shooting in Baghdad that left 17 Iraqis dead has had a long relationship with the world 's most famous spy agency . When Erik Prince first opened his Blackwater training facility in the late '90s , his clients included special forces teams and law enforcement agencies from around the country . Prince had expressed frustration with the training facilities he visited during his time as a Navy SEAL , and a sizable inheritance allowed him the financial freedom to retire from the military and try his hand at creating a better facility . His first clients were indeed SEAL teams . But they also included teams from other government agencies ,
Suzanne Simons is an executive producer at CNN as well as author of the book `` Master of War : Blackwater USA 's Erik Prince and the Business of War '' -LRB- Collins , June 2009 -RRB- . Erik Prince , founder of Blackwater , is pictured in Afghanistan in November 2007 . -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The private military contractor formerly known as Blackwater has held classified contracts with the Central Intelligence Agency for nearly a decade , but an allegation that the contractor was part of a secret CIA program to kill al Qaeda operatives -- if true -- would take the relationship to a whole new level . The CIA hired the private security firm Blackwater USA in 2004 to work on a covert program aimed at targeting and potentially killing top al Qaeda leaders , a source familiar with the program told CNN . Former company executives deny knowing about the program . Current leaders of the company did not return calls to CNN . The CIA wo n't comment on classified contracts . The classified program , canceled by CIA director Leon Panetta earlier this year , was part of a broader effort inside the