Miliband Urged To Curb Mercenaries

David Miliband, and the Labour government, is facing a legal challenge from War on Want.

In 2002, the Foreign Office published a green paper on how mercenaries (sorry, private military and security companies) could be regulated. Nothing has happened since. The Commons foreign affairs committee has called for action, recommending that:

"private companies be expressly prohibited from direct participation in armed combat operations, and that firearms should only be carried ... by company employees for purposes of training or self-defence".

More than 100 MPs have also signed an early day motion urging the government to move towards binding legislation to bring private military companies under democratic control.