Lekota forbids mercenaries

2004-02-29 19:07

Pretoria - South Africans have been forbidden from offering security or military services to any faction in Iraq without the permission of Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota, a statement received from his office at the weekend warned.

Lekota's office said the National Conventional Arms Control Committee had decided that Iraq was a "theatre of armed conflict" under the Foreign Military Assistance Act of 1998.

Involved in this "theatre" were "the Iraqi Provisional Authority and the foreign coalition forces (the US armed forces and those aligned to them) on the one hand, and the armed forces or groupings opposed to the Iraqi Provisional Authority as well as the presence of the coalition forces in Iraq on the other".

"In terms of the Act the rendering of military assistance to a party to an armed conflict includes providing advice, training, personnel, financial, logistical, intelligence or operational support, personnel recruitment, medical or para-medical services or procurement of equipment."

Military assistance also included "the provision of security services for the protection of individuals involved in an armed conflict or their property or any other action that resulted in furthering the military interests of a party to an armed conflict".

South Africans headed for Iraq to work as security or body guards could face imprisonment or fines or both on their return.

In a separate development, the Department of Defence through an internal bulletin last week also warned staff that anyone taking a leave of absence from the SA National Defence Force to do remunerative work outside the department without the prior permission of the relevant authority, was contravening Section 30 of the Public Service Act of 1994.

Resigning in droves

"Further, when applying for leave a member of the DOD is required to indicate his or her whereabouts during leave. Where incorrect information is deliberately submitted, this would be in contravention of Sec 30(a) of Military Discipline Code. If convicted, such a member would be liable to imprisonment for the period not exceeding one year. Finally uniform members are required to inform their responsible intelligence officer of their intentions to go abroad, whether officially or not."

The warning to serving soldiers, sailors and airmen came after reports that many were contemplating taking unpaid leave from the SANDF to take up lucrative short-term contracts in Iraq.

Members of the police's elite Special Task Force have also been reported as resigning in droves to take three, six or 12-month contracts protecting key Iraqi buildings and personnel.

In January, an ex-security policeman from Pretoria died and five other South Africans were wounded in a suicide bombing in Iraq. They worked for a company that provided security services to mainly American civilians in Iraq.

- SAPA