Army promises action on any soldiers who used African prostitutes

THE head of the Defence Forces said any soldier found guilty of using prostitutes in East Africa would be dealt with forcefully. Lieutenant General Colm Mangan described the allegations, involving a 15-year-old prostitute as an unseemly incident.

“There will be no action taken until the investigation is complete. It is being investigated by the military police” he said.

He said prior to the investigation they sent out a legal officer to assess the situation on the ground in Eritrea, in Africa.

He stressed the seven soldiers involved in the alleged incident were not serving in the UN force that was just returning from Eritrea. He said the matters under investigation occurred more than a year ago.

Lieutenant General Mangan was speaking at the launch of the Defence Forces’ Annual Report, 2002 at McKee Barracks in Dublin.

He said that the force was continuing to increase its capabilities in response to the September 11 terrorist attacks on the US in the light of warnings by the British Security Service.

“We have taken certain precautions in respect of 9-11. We increased the strength of the Army Rangers wing and we purchase equipment particularly to deal with nuclear, biological and chemical threats.

“We also purchased ordnance equipment for our disposal teams to deal with threats of that nature,” he said.

He said in addition they have provided extra training for personnel and had continued to improve intelligence gathering and co-operation.

Lieutenant General Mangan also pointed out that the Emergency Planning Office had been set up in the Department of Defence.

Asked whether the warning from MI5 boss Eliza Manningham-Buller that a so-called dirty bomb could explode anywhere in the West included Ireland, he said:

“Of course no one can never rule anything out, but the level of threat to this country certainly isn’t as high as those countries in the mainstream of countries the terrorists go for.

“Nevertheless, within all countries in the EU, there has to be co-operation in regard to information in this area,” he said. He said there was very close co-operation with the gardaí, who were primary responsible for internal security.

Speaking on reports that the minister of defence was asked to look again at force numbers and barracks’ closures he said the minister had said that continuous recruiting was essential.