Afghanistan orders dissolution of security firms to begin

Afghan President Hamid Karzai Saturday ordered the process of disbanding all private security companies in the country to begin, his office said. The president has ordered that all private security contractors operating in Afghanistan should be disbanded by the end of the year, potentially causing a crisis for the many organisations that rely on them.
"The president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan on Saturday tasked the ministry of internal affairs to formally begin the dissolution process of private security companies," a statement from the presidential palace said. Over the next seven days, the interior ministry and the national directorate of security, the intelligence agency, will prepare a list of all registered private security companies, along with details of staffing, location and specialisation, it said.
This information will be presented to a similar high-level meeting next week, it said, adding that all companies would be treated equally. Unregistered firms will take priority in the disbanding process, it said. The presidential decree, issued on Tuesday, ordered the 52 private security contractors operating in the country, both Afghan and international, to cease operations by January 1, 2011.
Private security firms in Afghanistan are employed by US and Nato forces, the Pentagon, the UN mission, aid and non-governmental organisations, embassies and Western media. They employ about 26,000 registered personnel, though experts say the real number could be as high as 40,000. The tenor of the decree has been largely welcomed as the presence of tens of thousands of armed private guards is seen as potentially undermining government authority.
Afghans criticise them as overbearing and abusive, particularly on the country's roads, and Karzai has complained they duplicate the work of the Afghan security forces and divert much-needed resources. But there are concerns about the tight deadline, which allows little time to negotiate an alternative to private contractors in a country were security is a priority and police are generally not trusted.
The contractors have been reluctant to comment publicly but some have said privately they believe many of their clients would leave the country if they could not source their own security. The palace statement said that officials from embassies and international organisations would be summoned to the interior ministry to hear about the dissolution process.