Iraq Victim Was Top-Secret Apartheid Killer
Sunday Times (Johannesburg)
April 18, 2004
Posted to the web April 19, 2004
Julian Rademeyer
Johannesburg
A security contractor killed in Iraq last week was once one of South Africa's most secret covert agents, his identity guarded so closely that even the Truth and Reconciliation Commission did not discover the extent of his involvement in apartheid's silent wars.
Gray Branfield, 55, admitted to being part of a death squad which gunned down Joe Gqabi, the ANC's chief representative and Umkhonto weSizwe operational head in Zimbabwe on July 31 1981. Gqabi was shot 19 times when three assassins ambushed him as he reversed down the driveway of his Harare home.
Author Peter Stiff this week confirmed information that Branfield was an operative identified in his books, The Silent War, Warfare By Other Means and Cry Zimbabwe as "Major Brian". He said Branfield, a former detective inspector in the Rhodesian police force specialising in covert operations against guerrilla organisations, came to South Africa after Zanu-PF came to power in 1980.
<snip>
In South Africa he joined the SA Defence Force's secret Project Barnacle, a precursor to the notorious Civil Co-operation Bureau (CCB) death squad. Given the rank of major, Branfield was put in charge of operations in the urban centres of Zimbabwe, Botswana and Zambia.
<snip>
Branfield arranged a meeting with the investigating officer in the case, Inspector Fred Varkevisser, a man he knew personally. When attempts to cajole Varkevisser into releasing Gericke failed, Branfield and other agents overpowered the policeman and strapped an explosive belt around his waist.
<snip>
http://allafrica.com/stories/200404190944.htmlPrivate security firms call for more firepower in combat zone
Private security firms call for more firepower in combat zone
Coalition forces do little to help as bodyguards protecting foreign workers are targeted by deadly insurgents
Jamie Wilson
Saturday April 17, 2004
The Guardian
Private military companies guarding foreign contractors in Iraq are demanding the right to carry more powerful weapons after the deaths of a number of bodyguards during a series of major battles with Iraqi insurgents.
The Guardian has obtained details of a firefight in the town of Kut, 100 miles south-east of Baghdad, between Iraqi insurgents and five security personnel of the Hart Group, a Bermuda-registered security consultancy run by former SAS and Scots Guards officer Richard Bethell, the son of Lord Westbury.
Gray Branfield, a South African, was killed during the battle after coalition forces from Ukraine failed to respond to repeated pleas for assistance from the small group of besieged guards.
Under an agreement with the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) private security guards are only allowed to carry small personal protection weapons. But a source at Hart Group told the Guardian this week that discussions were under way with the authorities governing Iraq to allow bodyguards to increase their firepower.
<snip>
The incident which led to the demand for more firepower began at 6pm on April 6 in the house where the five Hart Group bodyguards were living in Kut. The men were attacked by a large group, believed to be followers of the Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Desperate calls were made to the local coalition forces. A Ukrainian unit finally answered and promised assistance. It never came. Coalition forces in Baghdad were also contacted and a rescue attempt was promised, but again it never came.
<snip>
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1193871,00.html <<snip>>
The Guardian has obtained details of a firefight in the town of Kut, 100 miles south-east of Baghdad, between Iraqi insurgents and five security personnel of the Hart Group, a Bermuda-registered security consultancy run by former SAS and Scots Guards officer Richard Bethell, the son of Lord Westbury.
Gray Branfield, a South African, was killed during the battle after coalition forces from Ukraine failed to respond to repeated pleas for assistance from the small group of besieged guards.
<<snip>>
It is estimated that Iraq has boosted the revenues of British military companies from £200m before the war to more than £1bn, making security Britain's most lucrative postwar export to the country.
<<snip>>
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1193871,00.htmlAmerica and the coalition of the damned
Who are these soldiers of fortune that sign up to protect U. S. interests in Iraq?
An interesting answer to that question came from the Johannesburg Sunday Times of April 18. According to Julian Rademeyer, Gray Branfield, 55, a civilian contractor killed in Iraq a few weeks ago, admitted to being part of a South African death squad responsible for murdering ANC leaders. He also fought on the side of racists in Rhodesia and Zambia.
http://www.pulsetc.com/article.php?sid=1053By Gavin du Venage in Cape Town
April 27, 2004
According to the United Nations, South Africa is a favoured recruiting ground, after the US and Britain, for the private security firms. At least 1500 of the estimated 10,000 private contractors operating in Iraq are South African.
"Most of these guys have spent 15 to 20 years fighting and know nothing else," Stiff says. "After apartheid ended, the former soldiers found themselves unemployed after their units were disbanded. Many became mercenaries.
"When the war in Iraq broke out, and private security companies began to seek recruits, they rushed to join what seemed to be a safe well-paid venture. Instead, they found civilians who shot back."
http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=814 Gray Branfield, 55, admitted to being part of a death squad which gunned down Joe Gqabi, the ANC's chief representative and Umkhonto weSizwe operational head in Zimbabwe on July 31 1981...In South Africa he joined the SA Defence Force's secret Project Barnacle, a precursor to the notorious Civil Co-operation Bureau (CCB) death squad...
In 1985 he was involved in planning the now notorious SADF raid on Gaborone in which 14 people, including a five-year-old child, were killed.
http://www.nathannewman.org/log/archives/001683.shtml#001683
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