Miller Phil - 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.

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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

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In memory of Vairamuttu Varadakumar, 19492019

The Arabian Peninsula

Sri Lanka

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 Arabias oil minister.

1977: British government fails to pass ban on mercenaries despite Lord Diplocks report.

1978: KMS directors help arrange sponsorship for the National Army Museum in Chelsea. Companys 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. Thatchers 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 Walkers 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.

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 companys 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 Lankas 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