Mercenaries 'could help British troops'

Mercanaries should be licensed and used to assist British troops in international peacekeeping missions, a committee of MPs said yesterday.

Soldiers of fortune working for "properly regulated" private military companies could make a "positive contribution" to international security and help overstretched British forces, the Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee said.

But the committee said licensing would have to be coupled with strict regulation, including an outright ban on armed combat operations and controls on the use of firearms.

Banning all military activities by private armies abroad would be counterproductive when they could have a legitimate role in helping restore stability in weak countries, said the MPs, who highlighted the "critical part" played by the private military company Executive Outcomes in securing victory for government forces and a peace deal in Angola.

Once stability was restored, private military companies could also assist governments in securing a flow of revenue through the protection of highways and border crossings.

The report followed a Foreign Office Green Paper originally intended to curb the role of private military companies following the 1998 Sandline Affair, when the Government was accused of conniving with Sandline International in the illegal export of arms to Sierra Leone.

However, like the Foreign Office, the committee concluded that "a properly regulated private military sector can make a positive contribution to international security".

The committee rejected the idea of a voluntary code of conduct, as it would leave the Government unable to prevent the activities of "disreputable" companies, and stressed the need for effective regulation.