Morning Mercenary Roundup
Friday, April 09, 2004
In Chile, an accusation against Blackwater has been filed in criminal court:
Chilean lawmakers accuse US firm of illegally recruiting mercenaries
Two Chilean lawmakers on Thursday accused US security firm Blackwater Security Consulting of illegally recruiting mercenaries for security tasks in Iraq.
Leal and Alejandro Navarro said Blackwater's recruitment, which hires Chilean army veterans, puts public order and national security at risk.
. . . Navarro, of the Socialist Party, said the accusation was filed in the 17th criminal court of Santiago.
�"We are going to legislate to end with the mercenaries" and ban foreign companies from recruiting mercenary soldiers in Chile, Navarro said.
MEANWHILE in Equatorial Guinea:
'Mercenaries told investigators everything' (IOL):
Harare - A group of 15 alleged mercenaries detained in Equatorial Guinea had planned to wipe out the entire family of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, his interior minister Manuel Nguema Mba said during a trip to Harare on Wednesday.
Mba, who is visiting Harare where another group of 70 alleged mercenaries linked to the supposed plot are being detained, said the South African accused of leading the group in Malabo, Nick du Toit, had told Equatorial Guinean investigators "everything".
"He (du Toit) told us everything that was planned. He said the objective was to kill the entire family of President Obiang Nguema and bring (opposition leader) Severo Moto from Spain," ZIANA news agency quoted Mba as saying.
AND finally, from New Zealand, an editorial on why the world needs mercenaries.