Sandline International was a
private military company (PMC) based in London, established in the early 1990s. It was involved in conflicts in
Papua New Guinea in 1997 and had a contract with the government under then-Prime Minister
Julius Chan, causing the
Sandline affair
The Sandline affair was a political scandal that became one of the defining moments in the history of Papua New Guinea, and particularly the conflict in Bougainville. It brought down the government of Sir Julius Chan, and took Papua New Guinea to ...
. In 1998 in
Sierra Leone Sandline had a contract with ousted President
Kabbah and in
Liberia
Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...
in 2003 was involved in a rebel attempt to evict the then-president
Charles Taylor near the end of the civil war. Sandline ceased all operations on 16 April 2004.
On the company's website, a reason for closure is given:
Sandline was founded and managed by retired
British Army Lieutenant Colonel
Tim Spicer
Timothy Simon Spicer, (born 1952) is a former British Army officer, and former chief executive officer of the private security company Aegis Defence Services. He is a veteran of the Falklands War and also served with the British Army in Norther ...
. Sandline billed itself as a PMC and offered military training, "operational support" such as equipment and arms procurement and limited direct military activity, intelligence gathering, and public relations services to governments and corporations. While the mass media often referred to Sandline as a
mercenary company, the company's founders disputed that characterisation. A commercial adviser for Sandline once told the
BBC that the firm saw themselves differently from mercenaries, stating that they were an established entity with “established sets of principles” and that they employed professional people.
[
] He reiterated that the firm would not accept contracts from groups or governments that would jeopardise its reputation.
Spicer recounted his experiences with Sandline in the book ''An Unorthodox Soldier''.
See also
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Aegis Defence Services
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Executive Outcomes
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Simon Mann
Bibliography
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References
External links
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Private military contractors
History of Papua New Guinea
History of Sierra Leone
History of Liberia
Mercenary units and formations
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