In Somalia, UN Mine Action's Bax Gives Info to US, Travels Armed with Denel, Whistleblowers Tell ICP

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive

UNITED NATIONS, June 22 – In Somalia the UN Mine Action Service is passing along genetic information from bombings to US intelligence agencies, in a move some say has endangered the lives of UN personnel.

  In the wake of the deadly attack on the UN compound in Mogadishu, among the victims were three employees of South African state owned arms manufacturer Denel.

  At the UN in New York, Inner City Press asked UN Security Council president Mark Lyall Grant (video here from Minute 4:30) then UN spokesman Eduardo Del Buey about Denel.

   The UN replied to Inner City Press, “Regarding your question at noon about the contractors killed in Mogadishu on Wednesday, we can confirm that the three contractors were employed by MECHEM, a demining company based in South Africa.”

Now Inner City Press has exclusively been provided by whistleblowers with detailed complaints about the UN Mine Action Service's David Bax, including that he shares both genetic information and physical evidence from bombings with American intelligence services, including through shadow private military contractor Bancroft Global Development.

  According to the whistleblowers, this combined with Bax and “his” Denel contractors traveling armed around Mogadishu leads to a perception that they and the UN have taken sides, and helps to make them a target.