Mercenary market
On March 7, Englishman Simon Mann, formerly of Sandline International and Executive Outcomes, was jailed in Zimbabwe with a group of his Logo Logistics employees on charges of coup plotting in Equatorial Guinea.
On March 31, security contractors of Blackwater USA were fatally ambushed in Fallujah, in Iraq.
Companies such as Sandline and Blackwater, largely British, South African and US-based, have performed tasks in imploding states such as Sierra Leone, Liberia, Angola
and Iraq.
Certain crack units are facing difficulties as soldiers depart to join the more lucrative private sector. But for governments, the private sector provides the ability to outsource dangerous or politically sensitive jobs.
The issue facing private military companies now must be how far they are prepared to push their job descriptions beyond basic security provision.
As famed mercenary 'Mad Mike' Hoare discovered when he was imprisoned for attempting a coup in the Seychelles in 1982, if those involved in such risky work lack governmental backing, the risks their staff run when things go wrong extend well beyond loss of earnings.
Mann's former company, Sandline, ceased operations in April - stating on its website that it was too dangerous to continue operating without governmental support.
