German MPs training Libya in counterterrorism

Guardian:

German military police officers and soldiers, including members of the special forces, are under investigation for allegedly training Libyan security forces in anti-terror techniques in their spare time.

About 30 officers are believed to have been involved in illegal training programmes after being recruited by a former officer of Germany's elite anti-terrorism unit, the GSG-9 commando, who ran his own private security company.

The men, who were secretly flown to Tripoli while on leave, are reported to have received up to €15,000 (£11,800) each. Their superiors did not know about the training sessions.

According to the Westfalen Blatt newspaper, some of the officers were also rewarded with holidays in Tunisia, which they took before or after the training sessions.

At least eight officers are under formal investigation, according to Ingo Wolf, interior minister for the state of North Rhine Westphalia. They are accused of jeopardising official secrets and breaching their duty to secrecy.

Wolf called their activities "completely unacceptable". The defence ministry in Berlin said one military police officer from the capital had been suspended from duty, while others had been "transferred".

Details of the training have not been revealed, but Wolf said he was "furious about the officers' lack of political sensitivity" and their failure to grasp that the information they were passing on could be misused. The opposition is calling for a parliamentary investigation.

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It is hard to tell if this was done for greed or stupidity. It certainly was against the interest of those who want to prevent terrorism. It will be interesting to see if they are prosecuted.