Blackwater Creating Private Army in UAE

The US state department said on Sunday that it was examining the legality of an American-led private army that is being established in the United Arab Emirates.

Erik Prince, the founder of Blackwater private security company, is establishing a counter-terrorism force of up to 800 foreign mercenaries in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, The New York Times reported on Sunday.

Mr Prince has been hired by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, to recruit an American-led force of mainly South American former soldiers, through a company called R2, with a view to countering a perceived threat from Iran and bolstering domestic security, the report said.

“The department is aware of the R2 venture and is currently looking into it to make sure there are no potential International Traffic in Arms Regulations concerns,” a state department spokesman confirmed on Sunday. The regulations govern the sale of defence services as well as defence equipment.

Members of the new force have been trained since last summer by former special forces soldiers from the US, South Africa and European countries in a camp outside Abu Dhabi, the newspaper said.

“There have been a lot of rumours and a lot of conjecture that there would be some type of additional security force for the UAE,” said Theodore Karasik, director of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis.

“There are many former military personnel who are now retired and are looking for new sources of employment. Private security companies are being set up throughout the region.”

However, the establishment of the R2 force raises the question of whether American-led foreign soldiers could be used to subdue local political unrest, such as the pro-democracy movements in neighbouring Bahrain.

Mr Karasik said that, while the force was located in Abu Dhabi, it would probably serve all of the seven emirates that form the UAE.

A spokesman for the crown prince could not be reached for comment, while an official who works in the crown prince’s office said he had no information on the project.

Court papers released in the US in August last year first indicated that Mr Prince was moving with his family to Abu Dhabi, apparently to escape persistent scrutiny of Blackwater’s record in Iraq and elsewhere.

A former Blackwater guard pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges over the killing of at least 14 people in Baghdad in 2007. Last month, a US court reinstated charges against five people involved in the incident. Mr Prince has since sold Blackwater, which changed its name to Xe. The company denies wrongdoing.

Another source close to the private security industry pointed out that this was not the first time that the UAE had hired former overseas soldiers.

The UAE, which has an indigenous population of 1m out of total of over 8m, has large numbers of foreign advisers and trainers across its police, army, air force, navy and coastguard. The source said that there was currently an influx of mainly Australian former soldiers.

The UAE is a close ally of the US and shares the same suspicions of the government in power in Iran. Last month, UAE special forces, acting in conjunction with the US fifth fleet, successfully raided a ship in the Indian Ocean which had been seized by Somali pirates, freeing the crew.

Elements of the UAE air force are also engaged in supporting the Nato-led no-fly zone over Libya while another special forces unit has served alongside Nato in Afghanistan.

The UAE government has though suspended talks with Dassault of France over supplying additional Mirage fighters because of allegations carried in French newspapers that Abu Dhabi had a defense relationship with an Israeli private security company.

Asked whether Mr Prince’s force was likely to have an offensive or a defensive role, Mr Karasik said: “It depends on the level of performance. There are some very capable forces in the UAE. But there is always that need for additional forces for specific tasks.”

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