Keenie Meenie

Phil Miller

Description

Keenie Meenie Services - the most powerful mercenary company you've never heard of - was involved in war crimes around the world from Sri Lanka to Nicaragua for which its shadowy directors have never been held accountable.

Like its mysterious name, Keenie Meenie Services escaped definition and to this day has evaded sanctions. Now explosive new evidence - only recently declassified - exposes the extent of these war crimes, and the British government's tacit support for the company's operations. Including testimonies from SAS veterans, spy chiefs and diplomats, we hear from key figures battle-hardened by the Troubles in Northern Ireland and the Iranian Embassy siege. Investigative journalist Phil Miller asks, who were these mercenaries: heroes, terrorists, freedom fighters or war criminals?

This book presents the first ever comprehensive case against Keenie Meenie Services, providing long overdue evidence on the crimes of the people who make a killing from killing.

Acronyms and Abbreviations

Map of the Arabian Peninsula

Map of Sri Lanka

Timeline

Photographs

Acknowledgements

Prologue

Introduction: Return of the Privateers

1. White Sultan of Oman

2. Bodyguards and Business Building

3. Teenage Rebellions

4. The Upside Down Jeep

5. Oliver North’s British Mercenary

6. The Exploding Hospital

7. Mercenaries and Mujahideen

8. The English Pilot

9. Grenades in Wine Glasses

10. Bugger Off My Land!

Epilogue

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Sujets

• Military Science
• Political Freedom
• HISTORY
• POLITICAL SCIENCE
• Sciences et techniques
• Omán
• Reino Unido
• Afganistán
• 21st century
• Archibald Hamilton
• General officer
• MI5
• Military
• War crime
• United Kingdom
• Terrorism
• Technology
• Sandinista National Liberation Front
• Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
• Espionage
• Engineering
• Great Britain
• General
• David Walker
• Security Service
• Blackwater
• SAS
• Margaret Thatcher
• Oman
• Sri Lanka
• Nicaragua
• Royaume-Uni
• Afghanistan

Informations

• Publié par: Pluto Press
• Date de parution: 20 janvier 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781786805843
• Langue: English

Extrait

Keenie Meenie
Keenie Meenie
The British Mercenaries Who Got Away with War Crimes
Phil Miller
First published 2020 by Pluto Press
345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA
www.plutobooks.com
Copyright Phil Miller 2020
The right of Phil Miller to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 0 7453 4078 4 Hardback
ISBN 978 0 7453 4079 1 Paperback
ISBN 978 1 7868 0583 6 PDF eBook
ISBN 978 1 7868 0585 0 Kindle eBook
ISBN 978 1 7868 0584 3 EPUB eBook

Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders and to obtain their permission for the use of copyright material in this book. The publisher apologises for any errors or omissions in this respect and would be grateful if notified of any corrections that should be incorporated in future reprints or editions.




This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental standards of the country of origin.
Typeset by Stanford DTP Services, Northampton, England
Printed in the United Kingdom
In memory of Vairamuttu Varadakumar, 1949-2019
Contents
Acronyms and Abbreviations
Map of the Arabian Peninsula
Map of Sri Lanka
Timeline
Photographs
Acknowledgements
Prologue
Introduction: Return of the Privateers
1. White Sultan of Oman
2. Bodyguards and Business Building
3. Teenage Rebellions
4. The Upside Down Jeep
5. Oliver North s British Mercenary
6. The Exploding Hospital
7. Mercenaries and Mujahideen
8. The English Pilot
9. Grenades in Wine Glasses
10. Bugger Off My Land!
Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Acronyms and Abbreviations
BHC
British High Commission
CDN
Nicaraguan Democratic Coordinator
CIA
Central Intelligence Agency
CJ
Northern Ireland Office files
EPRLF
Eelam People s Revolutionary Liberation Front
EROS
Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students
FCO
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
FDN
Nicaraguan Democratic Force, also known as the Contras
IPKF
Indian Peace Keeping Force
IRA
Irish Republican Army
JVP
People s Liberation Front
KMS
Keenie Meenie Services (spellings vary, e.g. Kini Mini, Keeny Meeny, etc.)
LTTE
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, also known as the Tamil Tigers
MI5
Military Intelligence, Section 5 - Britain s domestic and colonial intelligence agency
MI6
Military Intelligence, Section 6 - Britain s foreign intelligence agency
MOD
Ministry of Defence
PLOTE
People s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam
PREM
UK Prime Ministerial files
RAF
Royal Air Force
RUC
Royal Ulster Constabulary
SAD
South Asia Department (within the FCO)
SAS
Special Air Service
SLAF
Sri Lankan Air Force
STF
Special Task Force
TULF
Tamil United Liberation Front
WO
War Office files
The Arabian Peninsula
Sri Lanka
Timeline
1975: KMS is founded by Brigadier Mike Wingate Gray, Colonel Jim Johnson, Major David Walker and Major Andrew Nightingale. The company starts guarding British diplomats in Buenos Aires.
1976: Sultan Qaboos of Oman hires KMS to set up and train his special forces. British ambassador to Lebanon hires KMS bodyguards, as does Saudi Arabia s oil minister.
1977: British government fails to pass ban on mercenaries despite Lord Diplock s report.
1978: KMS directors help arrange sponsorship for the National Army Museum in Chelsea. Company s contract in Argentina ends.
1979: UK Foreign Office awards KMS contracts to guard diplomats in Uganda, El Salvador and Rhodesia.
1980: David Walker still listed as a reserve officer in the British army. Thatcher s Cabinet resolves to reduce reliance on KMS bodyguards.
1981: Andrew Nightingale dies in car crash in Oman
1982: KMS guard British diplomats in Uruguay against Argentine threat during Falklands War. David Walker elected as a Conservative councillor.
1983: Sri Lankan government awards KMS contract as country descends into civil war.
1984: KMS start training Sri Lankan police commandos in January. In September, the new unit kills up to 18 civilians at Point Pedro. David Walker starts work in Nicaragua with Oliver North.
1985: Company begins flying helicopters, training army commando unit and commanding operations in Sri Lanka. KMS bombs hospital in Nicaragua and its personnel in Sri Lanka are linked to torture and disappearances.
1986: KMS attempts to train Afghan Mujahideen in demolition techniques. David Walker steps down as a Conservative councillor. An SAS veteran quits the company over concerns about war crimes in Sri Lanka.
1987: Oliver North testifies before the US Congress about David Walker s work in Nicaragua. Sri Lankan police commandos trained by KMS involved in a massacre of 85 civilians at a prawn farm. KMS pilots give air support to Indian troops amid more massacres of Tamil civilians.
1988: KMS training of Sri Lankan forces scaled back. Sister company Saladin Security becomes increasingly prominent.
Photographs
1. A poster produced by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman and the Arabian Gulf in the early 1970s
2. Foreign Office telegram from 1976 warning about the impact of any anti-mercenary legislation on KMS
3. Sultan Qaboos at his Bait Al Baraka Palace in Muscat, Oman in 2010
4. Sri Lankan President Junius Jayewardene lands at a US Air Force base in 1984. He was nicknamed Yankee Dick because of his pro-Western policies
5. David and Cissy Walker at the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy debate held in a South Kensington jewellers in 2012
6. In 1978, investigative journalist Duncan Campbell obtained photos showing two of the KMS founders, Brigadier Mike Wingate Gray and Colonel Jim Johnson outside the company s first office at 11 Courtfield Mews. His article revealed that the company was using this sleepy residential property for running a mercenary business, and soon afterwards KMS moved to a more permanent location in South Kensington on Abingdon Road
7. As in Dhufar, women were an integral part of the Tamil armed movement
8. Merril Gunaratne was in charge of Sri Lanka s intelligence apparatus when KMS worked in the country
9. Colonel Oliver North speaking at a US military base in Iraq in 2007
10. US President Ronald Reagan sits with UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at Camp David on 22 December 1984, where they discussed the situation in Nicaragua
11. An unidentified KMS instructor with STF recruits; note their M-16 weapons
12. Another unidentified KMS instructor with Special Task Force recruits
13. The STF chief instructors board records two English names as the first occupants of this important role
14. Athula Dualagala was originally trained by KMS in 1985 and went on to become STF director of training by 2018
15. Joseph Rajaratnam was a maths teacher at Hartley College in Point Pedro when the STF burned down its library in 1984
16. Alasdair MacDermott was a diplomat at the British High Commission in Colombo who recorded allegations of atrocities by Sri Lankan forces linked to KMS
17. Jesuit priest Father John Joseph Mary described atrocities by the STF in Batticaloa, eastern Sri Lanka
18. Lieutenant Colonel Richard Holworthy was defence attach at the British High Commission in Sri Lanka from 1985 to 1987
19. The author with KMS veteran Robin Horsfall on the roof of his flat in Prague
20. Anthony Knowles after his arrest
21. KMS helicopter pilot Tim Smith
22. A Sri Lankan Air Force Bell 212 carries a national flag at an Independence Day parade in 2019 while a door gunner keeps watch
23. A memorial lists the names of all those who died at the Kokkadicholai prawn farm massacre of 1987
24. Former British high commissioner to Sri Lanka David Gladstone
25. The KMS/Saladin office on Abingdon Road in London
26. Saladin letter to STF Commandant Latiff
27. STF in riot gear advance on protesters, June 2017
28. Grieving relatives hold a portrait of Sathasivam Madisam who drowned while running away from the STF in 2017
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to Khalfan al-Badwawi for his expert research assistance on Oman, and to Lou Macnamara and Rachel Seoighe, particularly for their field work in Sri Lanka. To Angus Frost, not least for coming to Hereford. To Robin Horsfall, Richard Holworthy and David Gladstone for speaking to me. To my friends and family for accepting the long absences I have spent working on this book. I hope now it all seems worthwhile. I am also indebted to Clare Sambrook and Corporate Watch for giving me my first opportunities in journalism and nurturing my writing and research. To Mark Curtis, Ian Cobain, Anne Cadwallader and Abed Takriti for showing me what was possible to unearth at Kew and inspiring me to adopt that method for researching this book. To Daniel Trilling, Lara Pawson and Rebecca Omonira-Oyekanmi for showing me how powerful writing can be. To Matt Kennard, for your wonderful ability to tell stories through towns. To Taimour Lay for your rare blend of investigative journalism and legal knowledge. To Darragh Mackin and Gavin Booth for their guidance on the Peter Cleary case. To Tom Griffin, Kevin Hearty and Rosa Gilbert for their meticulous research on Ireland. To Sam Raphael for sharing our passion of declassified documents. To Yvo Fitzherbert and Bethan Bowett Jones for always being available to read drafts at such short notice. To Jane and Ateeqa for their indispensible assistance. To Greg Walton for his help both at the beginning and end of this journey. To all at Pluto Press for recognising the need for this book to be published. To my Tamil and Sinhalese friends, some of whom it may be safer to mention by first name only. To Ram for planting the seeds and Selven for bringing together my initial research on Ireland, Oman and Sri Lanka. To Virou for his guidance on pu