African nations urged to step up fight against mercenaries

LUANDA – Security and intelligence chiefs from 22 African countries have called for specific legislation targeting terrorism and mercenaries after a meeting in the Angolan capital Luanda.

The recommendation was made late Friday after two days of closed door meetings, Jose Zumbiri, the security chief of Mozambique, told AFP. Zumbiri, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the African Union, said the recommendations of the meeting “will be forwarded to African Union president Joaquim Chissano, in order for the debate to be enlarged to include all member states of the organisation”.Angola, which hosted the meeting, suggested the creation of a continental forum involving security and intelligence agencies from all African countries to jointly fight terrorism and clamp down on mercenaries.An intelligence official from South Africa, Hilton Danis, hailed the proposal, saying his country “already has legislation on mercenaries, which led to the dismantling of Executive Outcomes”, a firm which recruited mercenaries in South Africa in the mid-1990s.At the beginning of March, a joint operation involving the secret services of South Africa, Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea foiled an apparent attempt to overthrow Equato-Guinean President Teodoro Obiang Nguema.Seventy suspected mercenaries from diverse countries, including Namibians, all travelling with South African passports were arrested on March 7 in Harare and have been detained.They have been linked to 15 other alleged soldiers of fortune held in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea.- Nampa-AFPZumbiri, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the African Union, said the recommendations of the meeting “will be forwarded to African Union president Joaquim Chissano, in order for the debate to be enlarged to include all member states of the organisation”.Angola, which hosted the meeting, suggested the creation of a continental forum involving security and intelligence agencies from all African countries to jointly fight terrorism and clamp down on mercenaries.An intelligence official from South Africa, Hilton Danis, hailed the proposal, saying his country “already has legislation on mercenaries, which led to the dismantling of Executive Outcomes”, a firm which recruited mercenaries in South Africa in the mid-1990s.At the beginning of March, a joint operation involving the secret services of South Africa, Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea foiled an apparent attempt to overthrow Equato-Guinean President Teodoro Obiang Nguema.Seventy suspected mercenaries from diverse countries, including Namibians, all travelling with South African passports were arrested on March 7 in Harare and have been detained.They have been linked to 15 other alleged soldiers of fortune held in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea.- Nampa-AFP