Karzai to put private security agencies on notice

Kabul: Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai is setting a four-month deadline for private security companies to cease operations in the country, a spokesman said Monday.

A presidential decree expected later in the day would detail the process through which the companies should cease operations, spokesman Wahid Omar told reporters in Kabul.

Karzai has said repeatedly in recent months that private security agencies undermine government security forces, creating a parallel security structure. Contractors perform duties ranging from guarding supply convoys to personal security details for diplomats and businessmen.

The imminent decree expedites action that Karzai had promised in his inauguration speech in November, when he said he wanted to close down both foreign and domestic security contractors within two years.

"Within four months, all private security companies will be disbanded," Omar said, but declined to go into detail before the decree is released.

Unlicensed operators

The Interior Ministry has licensed 52 security firms but some older contracts are still being completed by unlicensed firms, according to the US military. There are about 26,000 private security contractors working for the US government in Afghanistan, 19,000 of them with the military, officials said.

As in Iraq, the conduct of security contractors in Afghanistan — particularly those working with US forces — has been a source of tension, with complaints that they are poorly regulated and effectively operate outside local law.

A spokesman for the US military said the United States supports Karzai's goal of eliminating private security firms but would not comment on whether it would be possible to meet the deadline.

"We are in total support of the President of Afghanistan's intent to do away with private security companies and to do away with the need for private security companies," Maj. Joel Harper said. "This should be done in a logical and sequential manner, and as conditions permit."

The US military set up a task force in June to tighten regulation and oversight of its security contractors, but its top official has stayed away from talk of deadlines.