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Article

14 Feb 2007

Author:
Marina Brouwer & Pablo Gamez, Radio Netherlands

Mercenaries protect Western interests in Iraq

[A]n investigation by the United Nations has shed new light on the role of these mercenaries [guarding Western interests in Iraq] and the way that they are recruited. Its first report looks at the role of Latin Americans in Iraq. Lured by the promise of large sums of money, mercenaries are signing contracts with sometimes dubious companies to replace US soldiers on the firing line...Mr Gómez del Prado [a Spanish member of the UN study group investigating the use of mercenaries] says the number of Latin American mercenaries in Iraq is unknown but there are around 1,000 Peruvians in the country...The terms of employment are usually tough, sometimes very tough: "The person who signs this contract doesn't have any possibility to escape. They are even obliged to accept the violation of their most fundamental rights, the right to live and the right to security. These contracts don't correspond to the labour conditions in their countries."