Eeben Barlow

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Luther Eeben Barlow (* around 1953 in Northern Rhodesia ) is a former South African officer . He served in the South African Defense Force (SADF) and in the country's military intelligence service during the apartheid period . Barlow is the founder of the now defunct private military service company Executive Outcomes .

Life

Barlow joined SADF as a young man in 1974. Here he acquired not only military skills but also technical knowledge. In the late 1970s and early 1980s he served in the South African Army in 32-Bataljon . This unit fought against the forces of the Angolan MPLA and the Namibian SWAPO in Angola in the late 1970s and early 1980s . During this time he rose to the command level of the reconnaissance unit of the 32-Bataljon under Willem Ratte. Between 1981 and 1983 Barlow took part in training courses in jungle camps run by the British SAS in Malaysia . After this time Barlow returned to South Africa and entered the service of the military intelligence service , Military Intelligence Service , where he had been working for the Directorate of Covert Collection since 1983 .

This intelligence substructure was responsible for arms smuggling, disinformation, espionage and operations against political opponents abroad. Barlow is said to be responsible for rumors that the African National Congress is working with the terrorist organization IRA . He is also allegedly responsible for assassinations of critics of the apartheid regime.

According to uncertain sources, Barlow was also involved in covert operations in Rhodesia a few months before a radical political change occurred there in 1980. It can also be assumed as not certain that he worked for the arms company Armscor . From 1983 to 1986 Barlow served in the Directorate Special Tasks of the SADF Division of Military Intelligence , which carried out support tasks for the RENAMO in their operations in the Mozambican hinterland. In 1986 he joined the Civil Cooperation Bureau (CCB), which had evolved from the SADF's 3rd Reconnaissance Regiment . This unit consisted of former special operations soldiers from former Portuguese and Rhodesian military structures. Barlow worked for the CCB until 1989.

After the end of apartheid in South Africa, Barlow left the army and founded the security service provider Executive Outcomes, which operated in Africa until it was banned by the South African government in 1998. Barlow published his autobiography in 2007 under the title Executive Outcomes - Against All Odds .

In 2006, Eeben Barlow, Lourens Horn and Harry Carlse founded the private military service provider STTEP ( Specialized Tasks, Training, Equipment and Protection International ). In 2015, STTEP was recruited by the Nigerian government to train the national military as part of a major West African offensive against the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram .

In an interview that was partially cited on Al Jazeera on January 5, 2020 , Barlow describes his take on the services provided by his company STTEP. Accordingly, he does not see the company's employees as mercenaries, as they act on the official behalf of state governments, see themselves as part of their armed forces according to the contract and follow the associated rules and guidelines. He describes the use of STTEP in Sierra Leone as support for the United Nations as part of its help through the FAO World Food Program , so that the supply of the population in remote regions of the country could be secured with food. In the course of this interview he expresses his concern that conflicts in Africa cannot be ended by Africans alone.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Colin Freeman: South African mercenaries' secret war on Boko Haram . Article in The Telegraph on May 10, 2015 at www.telegraph.co.uk
  2. ↑ a b c Abdel-Fatau Musah, Kayode Fayemi: Mercenaries: an African security dilemma . Pluto Press, London 2000, ISBN 0745314767 , p. 49
  3. ^ A b P. W. Singer: Corporate Warriors. The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry . Ithaca, London 2003, pp. 102ff.
  4. ↑ Khareen Pech: Executive Outcomes - a corporatice Conquest . In: Jakkie Cilliers, Peggy Mason: Peace, Profit or Plunder ?: The Privatization of Security in War-Torn African Societies Institute for Security Studies . P. 84 as pdf accessed on January 12, 2008
  5. ^ [1] South African mercenaries successful against Boko Haram
  6. ↑ [2] South African PMC devastating against Boko Haram in Nigeria
  7. ^ Al Jazeera News : Eeben Barlow: Inside the world of private military contractors . News from January 5, 2020 on www.aljazeera.com (English)
personal data
SURNAME Barlow, Eeben
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Luther Eeben
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African mercenary
DATE OF BIRTH 20th century
PLACE OF BIRTH Northern Rhodesia