Is Germany sending Mercenaries to Somali?

Somali Warlord Hires German Mercenaries to Provide Security Services.

Politicians have reacted angrily to reports that a German firm has signed a deal with a Somali warlord to provide security services. Former members of German special forces and an elite police unit could soon be working as bodyguards and trainers in the lawless country.

For years, German politicians and pundits have been taking the moral high ground over the activities of the American private security contractor Blackwater, now known as Xe Services, in places such as Iraq. "The US government has allowed private security firms to develop into an omnipresent, uncontrollable apparatus in the war zones of this world," wrote one German newspaper back in 2007.

That moral outrage is now looking distinctly shabby in the light of revelations that a German security company is planning to supply mercenaries to a Somali warlord. On Monday, Thomas Kaltegärtner, CEO of Asgaard German Security Group, confirmed a report by the German public broadcaster ARD that his company plans to send former German soldiers to Somalia.

In a December 2009 press release, Asgaard announced it had signed an "exclusive agreement on security services" with Abdinur Ahmed Darman. Darman, a Somali warlord who styles himself as the country's president, does not recognize the legitimacy of the United Nations-backed transitional government of Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. The agreement, the company said, would cover "all necessary measures to reintroduce security and peace to Somalia." The country has not had a functioning central government since 1991.

According to Kaltegärtner, himself a former Bundeswehr soldier, Asgaard employees would provide security for Darman and train police and military forces. He stressed, however, that combat operations were not planned. He said that over 100 mercenaries could be involved in operations. Although negotiations were not yet complete, it was possible that Asgaard employees would be operating in Somalia in the near future, Kaltegärtner told Berlin's Tagesspiegel newspaper. Kaltegärtner also told the newspaper that his company employed former members of the German army's special forces, the KSK, and Germany's elite GSG-9 police force.

Privatizing State Violence

Several German politicians have reacted angrily to the news that former soldiers could soon be in action on the Horn of Africa. "In my opinion, this is not acceptable," Rainer Arnold, the defense expert of the center-left Social Democrats, told the Tuesday edition of the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper. He called for new legislation to "clearly limit" such operations, adding: "One cannot privatize state violence."

Speaking to the same newspaper, Green Party politician Omid Nouripour accused the German government of not doing enough in the past to regulate private security firms. Paul Schäfer of the far-left Left Party and Rainer Stinner of the liberal Free Democratic Party, which governs in coalition with Merkel's conservatives, also criticized the deal, with Schäfer talking of a "shadow foreign policy."

Observers warn that German employees of the firm could be killed or targeted for kidnapping in Somalia. The Islamist Al-Shabab militia, which controls several regions of the country and parts of the capital Mogadishu, has allied itself with Al-Qaida, which wants Germany to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan. The Islamist groups would be pleased to get their hands on German hostages, experts say.

"If a German firm were to train and support a Somali militia, that would certainly go against Germany's interests," said Annette Weber from the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in remarks to ARD. The German Foreign Ministry and Defense Ministry now want to look into what Asgaard is planning to do in Somalia, according to the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

The company itself tried to play down the significance of the operation. "We want to work closely together with the German government and will in no way act against its interests," Asgaard said in a statement published on its website on Sunday. "There are currently no German citizens working on behalf of Asgaard in Somalia." The company stressed that it would only begin its operations in Somalia once Darman "once again assumes control of state affairs with the approval of the UN."

While Darman isn't considered an Islamist -- he is living in the United States and enjoys good contacts to U.S. congressmen -- his chances of becoming the next president are slim. His support inside the country is limited, and officials in Germany have warned that he may not get the personnel support from Europe.
A German prosecutor Wednesday launched an investigation into whether deploying the mercenaries to Somalia would be in violation of a German law that bars the sale of services of German soldiers abroad. A Justice Ministry spokesman Wednesday said the deal could also violate an international arms embargo imposed on Somalia by the United Nations.
Meanwhile, security experts aren't thrilled by the prospect of former German troops in a country like Somalia, where some 1.5 million people have been displaced by domestic fighting. The

For years, German politicians criticized the activities of U.S. private security contractor Blackwater, now Xe Services, in conflict zones such as Iraq. "The U.S. government has allowed private security firms to develop into an omnipresent, uncontrollable apparatus in the war zones of this world," the left-leaning Die Tageszeitung newspaper wrote in 2007.

EU backed Somali forces begin training in Uganda

The European Union backed Somali forces have began training in Uganda. The arrangements for European Union (EU) to train the troops in Uganda has been finalized.

Tuesday, a plane started ferrying some of the Somali recruits to be trained in Uganda.

At a press conference organized by EU mission in Kampala today, EU officials said that the training programme will last for one year.

Addressing the press, the head of EU delegation in Uganda, Vincent de Visscher said that the "EU will train 2000 Somali soldiers in collaboration with Uganda. All the 27 EU member states agreed to start supporting Somalia in issues concerning peace and security."

He also said that the European Union is already present on the ground in Somalia where they are carrying out educational and health related programmes.

Speaking at the same conference, the commander of Uganda armed forces, general Katumba Wamala asserted that the fact remains that "the Somali people should be empowered to fight their own battles".

He confirmed that Uganda has so far trained 1200 Somalis who are already serving within the ranks of the Somali government forces.

Said Katumba: "We want the Somali to be trained so that they take up the issue of maintaining their security themselves. There is need to train Somali government troops so that they can take control over the rag tag militias who are the source of insecurity in Somalia."

Another Failure of UN

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600" caption="In Madena, outside Mogadishu, Somalia, soldiers with the transitional government guarded a district commissioner's office. "][/caption]

The New York Times is reporting on another UN Scandal, this time food bypassing the needy in War torn Somali.

As much as half the food aid sent to Somalia is diverted from needy people to a web of corrupt contractors, radical Islamist militants and local United Nations staff members, according to a new Security Council report.

The report, which has not yet been made public but was shown to The New York Times by diplomats, outlines a host of problems so grave that it recommends that Secretary General Ban Ki-moon open an independent investigation into the World Food Program’s Somalia operations. It suggests that the program rebuild the food distribution system — which serves at least 2.5 million people and whose aid was worth about $485 million in 2009 — from scratch to break what it describes as a corrupt cartel of Somali distributors.

In addition to the diversion of food aid, regional Somali authorities are collaborating with pirates who hijack ships along the lawless coast, the report says, and Somali government ministers have auctioned off diplomatic visas for trips to Europe to the highest bidders, some of whom may have been pirates or insurgents.

The report goes on to do say that

Somalia’s security forces “remain ineffective, disorganized and corrupt — a composite of independent militias loyal to senior government officials and military officers who profit from the business of war.”

It seems that every UN aid program gets tangled with corruption, stealing, and giving aid and comfort to those who created the crisis in the first place. Somalia has been receiving aid and monies for years, but the misery continues. From my vantage point, I would say that a different approach should be looked at, because the present one is clearly not working.

Update: UN won't renew food contracts with the Somalian government.

The United Nations World Food Program announced Thursday that it would not give any new contracts to three Somali businessmen who have been accused of diverting food aid to Islamist militants and that the agency would welcome an independent investigation into its Somalia operations.

For months, World Food Program officials had denied mounting allegations that the contractors they use to haul hundreds of millions of dollars of food into Somalia were stealing some of the food and funneling it to Islamist militants trying to topple Somalia’s weak transitional government.

The decision follows a harsh new United Nations report, whose pointed findings were first disclosed in The New York Times this week.

European Union to train Somali troops

The more involvement by the international community, the better.  Lack of interest and concern has run its course, especially these last few years.

The European Union is expected to endorse plans to send troops to help train up to 2,000 Somali troops, according to an EU official.

Under the plan, up to 200 EU troops will train Somali military personnel in Uganda in a bid to broaden engagement in the crisis-hit state.

The move comes on the heels of a request by the Somali government to help build a 6,000-strong police force.

Somalia has been gripped by fierce fighting since 2007 and the country has not had a strong central government since 1991.

More than 1.5 million people have been uprooted by the fighting which has claimed nearly 20,000 lives.

Western countries have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to help the country develop its security forces and help restore order.

The EU is also running an anti-piracy mission in the water of the Gulf of Aden in a bid to clamp down on the number of attacks made by pirates over the last year.

Here is full link.

Back ground info on the EU  Atalanta mission.



Operation Commander of EUNAVFOR Atalanta Rear-Admiral Philip CNN interview.