Somalia May Cut Ties to Mercenary Firm

MOGADISHU, Somalia — The minister of information for the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia said Sunday that his government would most likely sever its relationship with Saracen International, a private security company in which South African mercenaries and the founder of Blackwater Worldwide are said to be involved.

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Saracen has offered to train beleaguered government troops and battle pirates and Islamist insurgents in Somalia, which has been steeped in civil war for two decades. But after the recent disclosure of an African Union report that said Erik Prince, Blackwater’s founder, provided seed money for the Saracen contract and was “at the top of the management chain,” many of Somalia’s biggest donors, including the United States, have questioned the wisdom of the deal. Somali officials, in turn, have cooled to working with Saracen. Read More