A private army for Somalia?

Under the banner heading of "Hope for peace and security in Somalia," a German security company has announced its intention to send a group of a hundred mercenaries that would include former Bundeswehrtroops to Somalia. According to the terms of an exclusive contract, the German force is to provide the clan leader and self-proclaimed president of Somalia, Abdinur Darman, with personal protection and strategic consulting, as well as undertaking "all necessary measures for the restoration of peace and security." The press release "has sounded alarm bells at the highest echelons of the German government," reports Süddeutsche Zeitung. In view of the fact that its former troops are to be involved, Berlin wants to take a closer look at what the Asgaard – German Security Group" actually intends to do in the war-wracked country, now prey to numerous incidents of piracy. The Munich based daily notes that "the growing number of armed conflicts worldwide has resulted in the increasing privatisation of the business of war," and an international private security market which is now worth 250 billion euros per year. In the wake of its press release, Asgaard Security announced that it would wait for UN recognition of Abdinur Darman before sending its troops.