Amongst
all the bloodshed in Iraq, it is hardly surprising that the death
of one South African and the wounding of five others in a bomb attack
in Baghdad at the beginning of February should have attracted little
international attention. Yet the story behind their presence in
Iraq is an instructive one, with both chilling and poignant dimensions.
The dead man was Frans Strydom, a former member of Koevoet, a notorious
counter-insurgency unit that operated in Namibia in the 1980s. Koevoet
(Afrikaans for crowbar) is described thus by a South African academic,
Keith Gottschalk, in a recent book on death squads in global perspective:
‘Koevoet killed between 300 and 500 persons per year during
the 1980s. Those killed were unknown proportions of SWAPO guerrillas,
POWs routinely killed after interrogation, and civilians’.
Seriously
injured with Strydom was Deon Gouws. Gouws was a member of the infamous
Vlakplaas death squad which operated inside South Africa. He applied
for and received amnesty from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
(TRC). The list of crimes to which he confessed – the TRC required
full disclosure – included numerous petrol attacks on the homes
of anti-apartheid activists, the assassination of a homeland cabinet
minister who had fallen out with Pretoria, the ambushing and killing
of five would-be bank robbers, and the killing of several recruits
to the ANC’s armed wing, MK. Prior to his appearance before
the TRC Gouws had been declared medically unfit to continue serving
in the South African police in 1996. In the Baghdad blast he suffered
horrendous injuries.
Company
The
company ultimately responsible for bringing the South Africans to
Iraq, Erinys, is headed by Sean Cleary, formerly both a diplomat
and senior figure in South African Military Intelligence during
the apartheid era. He is mainly remembered as a key figure in Pretoria’s
links with the Angolan rebel leader, Jonas Savimbi. Wealthy and
suave, Cleary now presents himself as a world-renowned expert on
conflict resolution.
Erinys
won a multi-million dollar contract from the Americans to protect
Iraqi oil installations. According to one South African news agency,
‘most of Erinys’s employees are former (SA) police officers
or ex-defence force personnel’. However, this may not be strictly
accurate in so far as Erinys employs a sub-contractor, SAS International,
actually to enlist the frontline security staff. Africa Confidential
estimates that there may be as many as 1,000 former members of the
South African security forces in Iraq at present.
It
is worth noting that the South African government’s strong
opposition to the war was apparently no bar to the Coalition’s
doing business with Cleary. No doubt Bush and Co fully understand
that he represents the old South Africa, not the new, and find that
perfectly congenial. The South African government is perturbed that
former members of the apartheid security forces having been making
careers as mercenaries.
The
Foreign Military Assistance Act outlaws the recruitment of mercenaries
in South Africa. Recently a helicopter pilot appeared in a South
African court on charges related to his participation in the conflict
in the Ivory Coast. According to Africa Confidential, the
board of Erinys International includes a close confidante of the
Iraqi National Congress leader, Ahmed Chalabi, as well as what it
describes as veterans of African security operations, including
a former member of the Armor Group. The Armor Group cropped up in
a story in the Belfast Telegraph in February over its employment
in Iraq of a former Royal Marine who had gone to jail over charges
of passing information to a Loyalist paramilitary organisation.
Spookaticci This
book has been long awaited. Since 1999 when allusions to a senior
British agent operating in the highest echelons of the IRA began
to filter into public discourse, unease mixed with fascination has
permeated the psyche of the republican constituency. Many believed
and some hoped that once Stakeknife was unmasked it would reveal
a high profile politician.
by Anthony McIntyre
Tongue
of my father Do
Liam, atá ag claoi lena dhúchas. For Liam, who is
cleaving to his tradition. Do Liam, nach bhfuil eagla air níos
mó. For Liam, who is no longer afraid. These are the book
dedications that Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill writes for me after
a recent reading. I have been talking to her in Irish for the first
time, having spoken English at our previous encounters.
by Liam Carson
Iraq’s
Mercenary Armies Amongst all the bloodshed in Iraq, it is
hardly surprising that the death of one South African and the wounding
of five others in a bomb attack in Baghdad at the beginning of February
should have attracted little international attention. Yet the story
behind their presence in Iraq is an instructive one, with both chilling
and poignant dimensions. The dead man was Frans Strydom, a former
member of Koevoet, a notorious counter-insurgency unit that operated
in Namibia in the 1980s.
by Adrian Guelke
Lord
Falls - Diary of a slightly revolutionary constitutionalist Wednesday: G’day. One had a bonza time
in Oz. The people are lovely, so trusting, so rich. Sold a good few
books and had the chance to find out more about Ned Kelly. I have
no doubt that Ned was a proto-Provo who would support Sinn Féin had
he not been gunned down by the peelers. Have urged an inquiry into
Brit collusion in his demise. Must write a piece for AP/RN about this.
Mixer
S
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