South Africa

In my last post on this topic I noted that one Colonel Tim Spicer was investigating the video that apparently showed South African Danny Heydenreycher firing indiscriminately at Iraqi motorists (the post can be found here). At the time I knew Spicer's name was familiar but I couldn't quite recall why. Well, while looking round the 'net I stumbled onto this article and now I know why. I would strongly suggest reading the article in its entirety, but for those just looking for a summary it basically details the goings on of Spicer as a "manager" of various mercenary front organisations.

Spicers involvement with South African's began with a now infamous organisation, the local mercenary outfit Executive Outcomes (EO). Spicer took the lead in rebranding EO as "Sandline International" when the Mandela government moved to crush local private military operators. In 1997 Spicer and the group of mainly South African mercenaries he led were arrested on arrival in Papua New Guinea after being hired by that government to "fight dissidents on the island of Bougainville and to re-open a lucrative copper mine." Spicer also has very close ties to Simon Mann (serving time in Zim for the mercenary debacle last year) and Mark Thatcher (bankroller of the said mercenary debacle). 

And this is the guy leading the "investigation"?