Hired Gunmen Protect VIPs In Afghanistan

Iraq's government wants Blackwater kicked out of the country. In Kabul, the government of Prime Minister Hamid Karzai has accused gunmen hired by several private security firms of robbery and murder. Two firms - Watan and Caps - were shut down after raids by Kabul police uncovered illegal weapons. Some Western firms are apparently on a list of 10 other security companies that may be closed or forced to cease operations in Afghanistan. Saladin, which operates worldwide, has not been publicly implicated in any of the alleged excesses or crimes attributed to private security firms in Afghanistan. The company declined to respond to a request for details of its activities on behalf of the Canadian government. But it apparently provides armour-plated black vans and SUVs, as well as some drivers and bodyguards. "Saladin Afghanistan was fully registered with the Afghan Government in 2002 and has been open and transparent with the Afghan Ministries and MOI [Ministry of the Interior] at all times; we run our Afghan operations in a professional discreet manner," said Paul Brooks, in an e-mailed reply to The Globe and Mail. "Unfortunately, with success comes jealousy and resentment from outside and in; having no skeletons in the cupboard we are in a very comfortable position," he said. In Ottawa, Foreign Affairs officials took more than a week to respond and after repeatedly asking for more time to prepare answers to written questions about the matter, eventually replied to the Globe with a terse: "Matters relating to the operational security of the embassy are not public." So it remains unclear whether Saladin guards are, for instance, subject to Canadian or Afghan law or - in the event of a shooting - could be spirited out of the country, as occurred when a Blackwater operative killed one of the Iraqi Prime Minister's personal bodyguards at a New Year's Eve party. A private security guard working for another firm in Kabul left the country after shooting his translator. "They operate in a grey area and that's part of the problem," said Stuart Hendin, an expert in the law of war at the University of Ottawa. He suggested that the Harper government may have opted to hire private security because the Canadian military is stretched too thin to deploy soldiers to protect the embassy and its diplomats. But by contracting out, the government might still be held liable, Prof. Hendin said. If one of the guards were to injure or kill someone, they might be considered agents of the state - in this case, Canada. Also unexplained is why, in Kabul, despite the presence of thousands of NATO troops, Canada has opted to contract Saladin to provide the rapid-reaction force to deal with any attacks on diplomatic compounds or convoys. Similarly, the rules of engagement governing Canada's hired security forces are unknown. Some private firms, such as Blackwater, contracted by the U.S. State Department, have told Congress that they can and do shoot first if they believe they face imminent attack. Canada contracted Saladin's Afghanistan subsidiary for the standby services of its rapid-reaction force in Kabul for the year ending June, 2007. But it is not clear whether there were other contracts for the armed Saladin guards outside the embassy or the buildings housing Canadian military and diplomatic personnel in the Afghan capital. Canada has more than a dozen senior military officers, known as the Strategic Advisory Team, who provide advice to Afghan ministers. The SAT team is also apparently protected by Saladin guards. Saladin has a huge, armed presence in Afghanistan, employing more than 2,000 guards. That makes its private army larger than all but a handful of NATO contingents. Canada has about 2,500 soldiers in Afghanistan. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071022.wafghancontractors22/BNStory/Afghanistan/home

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