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Report: Blackwater Founder Behind Apartheid-Linked Firm’s Somalia Bid

HeadlineJan 21, 2011

The founder of the private military firm Blackwater is reportedly backing another company’s bid to involve itself in Somalia’s civil war. An African Union report cited by the New York Times says Erik Prince provided the initial funding for South Africa-based Saracen International’s effort to win contracts from the Somali government. The contract would reportedly involve training Somali soldiers and militias, and combating alleged militants and pirates off the African coast. Saracen International is run by a former officer in South Africa’s Civil Cooperation Bureau, an apartheid-era force known for killing government opponents. The African Union report also describes Prince as being “at the top of [Saracen’s] management chain.” The Somali government has yet to announce its decision on the company’s bid.

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