As
EU
Proposes to
Shoot 2 Km
Into Somalia,
No Comment on
Halliday
Finch
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
April 27 --
When the
European Union
held a
briefing
Friday about
its naval
force off
Somalia, by
Operation
ATALANTA
commander
Admiral
Duncan Potts,
it seemed the
time to ask
about reported
EU plans to
pursue
pirates, at
least by air,
up to two
kilometers
inland.
The
German media
Die Welt has reported:
"Last
Wednesday,
the [German]
Federal
Cabinet
approved a
mandate [that]
states that
'German forces
can go inland
from the beach
for a maximum
of 2,000
meters to
reach
logistics
sites set up
by the
pirates.'
German
helicopters
can thus
engage in air
attacks
against pirate
boats,
weapons or
fuel storage
installations
up to 2 km in
from the
beaches."
But
when Inner
City
Press asked
Potts about
this proposal,
he said Die
Welt's
reporting
was
"incorrect."
He told Inner
City Press, "I
wouldn't
focus too much
on the two
kilometers. We
want to create
the
perception in
the mind of
the pirates
that they can
no longer act
with impunity
from beaches
of Somalia.
It's about the
perception of
impunity
rather than a
kinetic
effect."
But
it still seems
that the way
the EU wants
to "create
this
perception" is
to
shoot guns,
from
helicopters,
up to two
kilometers
inside Somali
territory.
Afterward
Somalia's
Permanent
Representative
told Inner
City Press
that this is
a problematic
proposal, that
their might be
people hurt
who are not
pirates. He
and his
counterpart
from Ethiopia
came to the
session,
but both
perceived it
to be for
journalists or
other EU
diplomats
only.
To their
credit they
ultimately
spoke up, and
stayed
afterward
questions
Potts, who
answered by
referring to a
letter from
Sheik
Sharif to UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon. Will
"General"
Ban Ki-moon
give his
blessing to
these
helicopter
strikes inside
Somalia?
Already,
Ban's
UN
is using the
private
military
contractor
Saracen for
its Congo
mission's
operations in
Uganda.
(The
Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations
under Herve
Ladsous, who
had also
proposed the
UN's use of
drones,
had promised
to provide a
fuller answer
about UN use
of
private
security firms
but then
stopped
responding.)
Back
on March 30,
Inner City
Press asked
Ban's deputy
spokesman
Eduardo Del
Buey:
Inner
City Press: On
Somalia, there
are reports
saying that
the
Transitional
Federal
Government has
contracted
with a private
security firm
based in
Nairobi called
Halliday Finch
to patrol its
coast. I
wanted to
know, one,
whether there
is any UN
involvement —
whether Mr.
[Augustine P.]
Mahiga is
aware of this,
whether this
constitutes
the use of
mercenaries...
Deputy
Spokesperson
Eduardo Del
Buey: No,
we’ll have to
get
information on
that; I don’t
have anything
with me on
that.
The
UN has yet to
get or provide
any
information on
this. But on
April 5, Inner
City
Press received
a reply of
sorts from the
spokesman for
Halliday
Finch:
Date:
Thu,
Apr 5, 2012 at
4:05 AM
To: Matthew
Russell Lee
[at]
innercitypress.com
From: Stephen
Harley,
Director of
Communications
Halliday Finch
Dear
Mr
Lee,
Allow me to
introduce
myself – my
name is
Stephen Harley
and I am the
Director of
Communications
for Halliday
Finch, the
East
Africa-based
security
provider you
referred to in
your 03 APR 12
article, 'At
UN on Somalia,
Diplomat
Admits Probe
& Firing,
Mercenaries
Not Known' and
in other
entries.
We
greatly
appreciate
your interest
in our
activities in
support of the
TFG's
initiative to
establish a
national coast
guard service.
However, we
are certainly
not
'mercenaries,'
nor do we
employ any
personnel who
have ever been
‘mercenaries’.
Halliday Finch
is a provider
of security
services with
extensive
experience in
Africa
delivering
training,
static and
mobile
security
(including
escorting
various senior
politicians
and celebrity
humanitarians)
and risk
assessment. We
are already a
recognized UN
vendor (and
have provided
services to
the UN in
Sudan and
Somalia as a
result).
As
you
are aware,
only last week
Halliday
Finch,
contracted by
UN ODC, safely
transferred 17
convicted
pirates as
part of
regional
judicial
arrangements
on piracy
between the
governments of
the Seychelles
and the
Somaliland
authorities.
Furthermore,
the
international
community is
fully aware of
and in
agreement with
our support
(primarily
training and
logistics) to
TFG coastguard
program. We
can only
assume that
some UN staff
in New York,
with so many
other issues
to address,
may not be
aware of the
program – key
international
players in
East/Horn of
Africa (UN
POS, UN ODC,
the EU, the
various
national
embassies)
certainly are.
We
are
still in the
set-up period
of the project
and have yet
to conduct any
activities
that would be
relevant to
the arms
embargo. Rest
assured, when
we reach that
phase of the
project, all
activities
will be in
complete
concordance
with the
legislation
and with the
approval of
the relevant
international
entities.
Should
you
require
further
information
regarding our
support to the
TFG coastguard
program or any
of Halliday
Finch’s other
activities,
please don’t
hesitate to
contact us.
We
look
forward to
reading
further
articles on
the subject of
Somalia and
East/Horn of
Africa in the
future,
Yours
aye,
Stephen
Harley
Halliday Finch
International
Given
the reference
not only to
"celebrity
humanitarians"
but also to
the EU,
Inner City
Press on APril
27 asked the
EU's Admiral
Potts about
the
TFG's use of
Halliday
Fitch, as well
as Saracen.
Potts
replied,
"I'm going to
be unhelpful.
I am aware of,
we take a keen
interest in
those other
actors in the
maritime
space. It's
not for me
to comment on
other nation's
policies."
No -
just to fly
two kilometers
in, guns
blazing.
But to comment
on the use of
private
military
firms, and how
this might
implicate or
need the
approval of
the UN's
Somalia /
Eritrea
Sanctions
Committee? No,
then the EU,
or
at least
Admiral Potts,
will not
"comment on
other nation's
policies." At
least for now.
Watch this
site.
, 
