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May 13, 1998, Wednesday
Foreign Desk
U.S. Reportedly Backed British Mercenary Group in Africa
By RAYMOND BONNER
A British mercenary force that helped carry out military operations in Sierra Leone this year kept the Clinton Administration fully informed of its activities and had its tacit support, the military group and a senior Administration official said. The operation was successful from the perspective of Washington and London, helping restore to power an elected President of Sierra Leone, Ahmed Kabbah, who had been ousted by a brutal group of army officers in a coup a year earlier.
But in accomplishing its mission, the private army, Sandline International, which was paid $10 million on behalf of Mr. Kabbah to arm and train a force to return him to power, reportedly brought in planeloads of assault rifles, mortars and ammunition, more than 100 tons altogether, all in violation of a United Nations arms embargo on Sierra Leone.In Britain, the disclosures about Sandline, which first came to light in March in Africa Confidential, a newsletter here, have become front-page news, creating a political maelstrom. Foreign Minister Robin Cook, under attack by the press and the political opposition, has said he will resign if the arms embargo was knowingly violated.
On Monday, Prime Minister Tony Blair dismissed the allegations as a lot of ''hoo ha,'' and praised the British Ambassador in Sierra Leone, Peter Penfold, who reportedly coordinated the Sandline operation, for helping restore the elected President. Today, Mr. Blair's office released a ''unprompted'' letter from Mr. Kabbah, who said he neither had sought nor was offered arms supported by the British Government.
Mr. Kabbah was restored in March with the help of a Nigerian-led African force that ousted the junta. Sandline said it had been asked by Mr. Penfold to assist the effort.
Last month, the British customs authorities opened an investigation into whether Sandline broke the embargo with the approval of Mr. Cook's ministry. In Parliament today, Mr. Cook vehemently denied that his office had ever received notice that the embargo would be broken. ''I can flatly and firmly make it clear that no papers suggesting the breach of the arms embargo by Sandline or anybody else ever went to my office in March or anytime before that,'' he said.
Washington has also sought to play down the affair.
In his briefing on Monday, the State Department spokesman, James P. Rubin, described Sandline as merely a ''private security firm that protected mining and construction interests in Sierra Leone.''
A few Sandline ''employees'' remained in Sierra Leone after the coup last year, and they ''periodically contacted State Department officials and commented on the situation in Sierra Leone,'' Mr. Rubin said. ''But we are not aware -- at least I am not aware -- of any information provided on possible arms shipments.''
But Sandline, and a senior American official, tell a different story.
In a confidential letter sent to Foreign Minister Cook on April 24, Sandline's lawyers wrote that Sandline had kept the State Department informed ''at the highest level.'' Among those briefed, the lawyers said, were the American Ambassador in Sierra Leone, John Hirsch, and senior State Department officers. The letter also says the operation, which included ''both personnel and military equipment,'' had the support of the Defense Department.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the senior Administration official generally confirmed this. ''We were fully aware of what was going on,'' he said. He said Washington was pleased that Britain took the lead among Western nations in helping oust the junta, and described American support for Sandline's operation as ''passive,'' rather than active.
After the coup last May, as the generals turned more brutal and the killing mounted, Washington and other governments were despairing of what to do. ''The only people willing to do something was Sandline,'' the official said.
As for the State Department's assertion that it knew nothing about the arms shipments, the official said, ''If you believe that, well, I've got some other information to sell you.''
In October, when all diplomatic attempts to oust the mutinous generals had failed, the United Nations Security Council imposed an arms embargo on Sierra Leone.
Press accounts said weapons for the Sandline operation were purchased in Bulgaria and flown in from the airport at Burgas, Bulgaria.
President Kabbah agreed to pay Sandline $10 million for weapons and training, Sierra Leone's Information Minister, Julius Spencer, said in Freetown on Monday.
Sandline was also awarded diamond concessions in the country.
In this regard, Sandline was acting on behalf of a mineral trader, Rakesh Saxena, who underwrote the Sandline operation in Sierra Leone, according to published reports here. The reports include faxes between the head of Sandline, Lieut. Col. Tim Spicer, and Mr. Saxena.
Mr. Saxena is alleged to have embezzled more than $100 million as an adviser to the Bangkok Bank of Commerce. He fled to Canada, where he was arrested and released on $1 million bail. He is now back in jail, but while on bail made the arrangements to hire Colonel Spicer, according to press accounts in Canada.
Sandline was founded in 1995 by Colonel Spicer, a Briton who fought in the Falklands and was the spokesman for Gen. Michael Rose, the United Nations commander in Bosnia.
This is not the first time that Sandline has been at the center of a controversy. Last year, the Prime Minister in Papua New Guinea signed a $36 million contract with Sandline for its services in putting down a rebellion in Bougainville. When news of the hiring of mercenaries became public in Papua New Guinea, rioting broke out, army officers mutinied and the Prime Minister was forced to resign.
Organizations mentioned in this article:
Sandline International; United Nations Related Terms:
United States International Relations; sierra leone-international relations-us; great britain-international relations-sierra leone; Politics and Government; Civil War and Guerrilla Warfare; Arms Sales Abroad; Embargoes and Economic Sanctions
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