‘Govt told about Iraq mission’

AN AMERICAN security company, which intends to recruit Namibian war veterans to work in Iraq, says it informed three Government ministries about its plans.

Peter Grimes was reacting to a press statement by the Ministry of Information, which said the Namibian Government had not received a formal request from the US outfit Special Operations Consulting-Security Management Group (SOC-SMG) to take Namibians out of the country for security training in Iraq. Grimes of SOC-SMG contacted The Namibian yesterday after the story appeared in the newspaper.”I am a bit surprised about the Ministry of Information,” Grimes said.”I talked to the Ministry of Labour, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Safety and Security about our plans.They had no problem,” Grimes added.His company was registered at the Registrar of Companies three days ago and Grimes himself arrived in Namibia three weeks before that.SOC-SMG is in partnership with the Namibian branch of a South African labour-hire company, African Personnel Services (APS).Grimes of SOC-SMG contacted The Namibian yesterday after the story appeared in the newspaper.”I am a bit surprised about the Ministry of Information,” Grimes said.”I talked to the Ministry of Labour, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Safety and Security about our plans.They had no problem,” Grimes added.His company was registered at the Registrar of Companies three days ago and Grimes himself arrived in Namibia three weeks before that.SOC-SMG is in partnership with the Namibian branch of a South African labour-hire company, African Personnel Services (APS).