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US accused of mercenary involvement in Somalia

Dramatic evidence that the US is involved in illegal mercenary operations in east Africa has emerged in a recent string of confidential e-mails. The leaked communications between US private military companies suggest the CIA had knowledge of the plans to run covert military operations inside Somalia -- against UN rulings -- and they also hint at the involvement of British security firms.

The e-mails sent in June reveal how US firms have been planning undercover missions in support of Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf's transitional federal government -- founded with UN backing in 2004 -- against the Supreme Islamic Courts Council. The council is a Muslim militia that took control of Mogadishu, the country's capital, in June with promises of national unity under Shariah law.

Evidence of foreign involvement in the conflict would not only breach the UN arms embargo but could destabilize the entire region.

One e-mail dated Friday, June 16, is from Michele Ballarin, chief executive of Select Armor, a US military firm based in Virginia. Ballarin's e-mail was sent to a number of individuals including Chris Farina of the Florida-based military company ATS Worldwide.

Ballarin said: "Boys: Successful meeting with President Abdullay Yussef [sic] and his chief staff personnel in Nairobi, Kenya on Tuesday... where he invited us to his private hotel suite flanked by security detail... He has appointed his chief of presidential protocol as our go-to during this phase."

She refers to one "closed-door meeting" with a senior UN figure and mentions there are "a number of Brit security firms" also looking to get involved.

Ballarin claimed she has been given "carte blanche" to use three bases in Somalia "and the air access to reach them."

She then suggests that the CIA has been kept informed of the plans. Ballarin states: "My contact whom we discussed from the agency side requested an in-person meeting with me. I arrived in New York at 2340 last night and was driven to Virginia -- arriving at 0200 today."

According to a respected newsletter, Africa Confidential, which originally published extracts of the e-mails last week, Select Armor started planning its operations in Kampala, Uganda. The e-mails suggest that the Ugandan government was willing to help secure arms supplies for any operation, although this has been denied by security officials in Kampala.

In one reply to Ballarin, Farina said: "A forced entry operation [into Mogadishu] at this point without the addition of follow-on forces who can capitalize on the momentum/initiative of the initial op will result in a replay of Dien Bien Phu," referring to the defeat of French colonial forces in Indochina in 1953.

The Web site of ATS, Farina's company, boasts it "can execute operations in support of host national indigenous forces."

ATS claims to use former US and British special operations personnel.

Reporters requested interviewsswith both Select and ATS but received no response.

Ballarin told Africa Confidential last week that her company's operations in Somalia were marked as "classified."
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