FORMER RUC OFFICERS HEADHUNTED

An article from the Belfast Telegraph News

Overview

This article details how we were in talks with Tony Blair over the security in Iraq. Peter Quinlivan, MD of Crime Management Services.

FORMER RUC officers are being headhunted to help restore law and order in Iraq.

Lord McKenzie - ex-chief of the Police Superintendents' Association is acting as go-between in talks involving Tony Blair and private security firm, Crime Management, which includes ex-police officers and soldiers from across the UK including Ulster.

The company is on 'amber alert' to deploy at least 50 British men in Baghdad, Basra, and other Iraqi towns devastated by looting and anarchy, following the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime. And the squad including former RUC and RIR personnel could be dispatched within days provided Coalition forces root out the last pockets of Iraqi resistance.

Lord McKenzie said: “There is clearly a need for experienced security officers over there. When a vacuum is created as it was with the removal of Saddam's regime - the top priority has to be the restoration of law and order.”

He added: “Our Government is prepared to use private firms, now that they have been regulated. But the real question is whether the Americans will agree.” Crime Management boss, Peter Quinlivan, who is based in Liverpool, said: “I have been pulling back men from other operations. We are on amber alert and just waiting for the green light, which I believe will be given very shortly.”

Mr. Quinlivan, who delivered aid supplies to Kosovo in 1999 added: “The idea is that we will protect former government buildings, terminals and commercial areas.”

“We will employ local people, pay them a wage, which they will then spend in shops, which we will also be protecting. ”

“That will be an essential part of stopping looting and disorder, and rebuilding a stable society shattered by war. ”

Whitehall sources said that the use of private security firms is being “actively considered”. But, the final decision will follow ongoing talks involving Coalition leaders, the UN and any future, interim Iraqi administration.