A small British firm secured a contract to provide security for American diplomatic facilities in Benghazi despite having only a few months experience in the country. Blue Mountain, run by a former member of the SAS, received paperwork to operate in Libya last year following the collapse of Col Gaddafi's regime. It worked on short term contacts to guard an expatriate housing compound and a five-star hotel in Tripoli before landing the $387,000 (£241,000) one year contract from the US State Department to protect the compound in May.
Other firms in the security industry expressed surprise that Blue Mountain had won a large, high profile contract from the US government. The New York Times last week reported that major security firms with a track record of guarding US premises elsewhere had made approaches to undertake work in Libya but were rebuffed. One industry executive said the level of service Blue Mountain provided did not appear adequate to the risks presented by a lawless city. The Camarthen firm sent just one British employee, recruited from the celebrity bodyguard circuit, to oversee the work.
Sources have told the Daily Telegraph that just five unarmed locally hired Libyans were placed on duty at the compound on eight-hour shifts under a deal that fell outside the State Department's global security contracting system. A five man security team from the US diplomatic protection service and three members of a local revolutionary brigade were also on duty on the night of the attacks.
But Blue Mountain's local woes appears to have hampered a coordinated response by the compound's defenders when the late assault kicked off. The Daily Telegraph has learned that relations between the firm and its Libyan partner had broken down, leading to the withdrawal of Darryl Davies, manager of the Benghazi contract for Blue Mountain. Mr Davies flew out of the city hours before the attack was launched. Abdulaziz Majbiri, a Blue Mountain guard at the compound, told the Daily Telegraph that they were effectively abandoned and incapable of defending themselves on the night of the attack.
Nigel Thomas, the Blue Mountain director, refused to answer any questions about the companies activities in Libya, citing official US inquiries into the incident. He said: "The US State Department investigation is still ongoing at this time. Blue Mountain have no comment to make and all questions should be directed to the US mission." |