04-02-2011, 04:03 PM
WikiLeaks cables: Ex-SAS officers hired as 'human bait' by foreign shipping firms
Ex-SAS officers are being used as "human bait" by foreign shipping firms who fear their vessels will be hijacked by Somali pirates, the cables indicate.
Foreign shipping firms are hiring former SAS officers to protect their vessels against pirates Photo: LA (Phot) Aj Ma
By Matthew Moore 6:30AM GMT 04 Feb 2011
29 Comments
British special forces veterans are in particular demand as ship guards because owners believe the Royal Navy will intervene to rescue them and free their vessels in the event of a hijacking.
The revelation will increase concerns that the Royal Navy is being forced to act as an international police force because other navies are failing to pull their weight off the Horn of Africa.
The US was alerted to the tactic in a cable sent from the American embassy in Tokyo in June 2009, which reported on loopholes in the security cover provided by Japan's Self-Defense Forces to ships carrying Japanese cargo through waters off Somalia. Because only two escort ships were available, some cargo firms instead employed "services offered by a British crisis consultant firm" to protect their vessels.
The cable continues: "These services dispatch former Special Air Service members of the British Army to cargo ships only when they cruise off Somalia."
While on the ship their duties include monitoring pirates and "taking action in emergency situations", but their presence serves another purpose. "Customers expect that since they would also become hostages if the ship were captured, the British Navy would rescue the ship."
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Ex-SAS officers hired as 'human bait' by foreign shipping firms 04 Feb 2011
The cable, which summarised a Japanese newspaper article in which the claims first appeared, did not mention whether any ships guarded by former SAS members had ever been seized by Somali pirates.
But in November 2008, the Royal Navy bolstered its fearsome reputation by shooting dead two Somali pirates while repelling an attack on a Danish cargo-ship off the coast of Yemen. US Navy officers attributed a dramatic decline in the number of pirate attacks in the first half of 2009 to the presence of HMS Northumberland, a Royal Navy frigate.
Ex-SAS officers are being used as "human bait" by foreign shipping firms who fear their vessels will be hijacked by Somali pirates, the cables indicate.
Foreign shipping firms are hiring former SAS officers to protect their vessels against pirates Photo: LA (Phot) Aj Ma
By Matthew Moore 6:30AM GMT 04 Feb 2011
29 Comments
British special forces veterans are in particular demand as ship guards because owners believe the Royal Navy will intervene to rescue them and free their vessels in the event of a hijacking.
The revelation will increase concerns that the Royal Navy is being forced to act as an international police force because other navies are failing to pull their weight off the Horn of Africa.
The US was alerted to the tactic in a cable sent from the American embassy in Tokyo in June 2009, which reported on loopholes in the security cover provided by Japan's Self-Defense Forces to ships carrying Japanese cargo through waters off Somalia. Because only two escort ships were available, some cargo firms instead employed "services offered by a British crisis consultant firm" to protect their vessels.
The cable continues: "These services dispatch former Special Air Service members of the British Army to cargo ships only when they cruise off Somalia."
While on the ship their duties include monitoring pirates and "taking action in emergency situations", but their presence serves another purpose. "Customers expect that since they would also become hostages if the ship were captured, the British Navy would rescue the ship."
Related Articles
Nigeria pressured UK to drop charges against politician 04 Feb 2011
WikiLeaks cables: FCO 'refused to speak with doomed British hostage' 04 Feb 2011
Britain pledged millions to Somali pirate region 04 Feb 2011
WikiLeaks: UN aid cash went to Islamist insurgents 04 Feb 2011
British Muslims travelling to Somalia for 'jihadi tourism' 03 Feb 2011
Ex-SAS officers hired as 'human bait' by foreign shipping firms 04 Feb 2011
The cable, which summarised a Japanese newspaper article in which the claims first appeared, did not mention whether any ships guarded by former SAS members had ever been seized by Somali pirates.
But in November 2008, the Royal Navy bolstered its fearsome reputation by shooting dead two Somali pirates while repelling an attack on a Danish cargo-ship off the coast of Yemen. US Navy officers attributed a dramatic decline in the number of pirate attacks in the first half of 2009 to the presence of HMS Northumberland, a Royal Navy frigate.
"Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care not who writes the laws. - Mayer Rothschild
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass