Finnish Security Police hope to send agents to Africa
Plan part of antiterrorism efforts
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The Nairobi Plateau, the coral beaches of Dar es Salaam, and possibly the narrow streets of Rabat could be home turf for agents of Finland’s Security Police (SUPO) in the coming years.
Helsingin Sanomat has learned that SUPO hopes to send detectives and other employees to about five capitals of North and East Africa for anti-terrorism duties.
SUPO is applying to Parliament for EUR 1.7 million in funding for the hiring of 15-20 employees for the project. The aim is for five of them to operate at any given time as liaisons in African countries known to be transit areas for terrorists.
So far, SUPO has not been authorised to have agents working abroad on a permanent basis. The proposal to establish a fixed police presence in Africa is seen as perhaps the biggest change in the history of the Security Police.
An aim of the project is to prevent potential terrorists from coming to Finland by identifying them when they apply for Finnish visas or residence permits.
The SUPO agents would not engage in any cloak-and-dagger activities. For their own safety, the SUPO liaisons are to operate openly as police officers, and not under any cover identities.
Nevertheless, the change is a step away from being a mere security police toward that of an intelligence service. Former SUPO head Seppo Nevala already spoke of a greater emphasis on intelligence gathering, but it was not until Ilkka Salmi took over that his idea of forward defence has made advances.
Salmi is giving out few details on the plan. He says that the aim is “to stop potential terrorists in the country of departure”.
The countries where the SUPO agents would be stationed have not been determined, yet, but Finland has embassies in a number of African countries, including Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Egypt.
An even more important area is East Africa, where Somalia is seen as especially problematic.
Finland does not have an embassy in Somalia, but there are Finnish embassies in two neighbouring countries, Ethiopia and Kenya.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 19.10.2009 - TODAY |
 Finnish Security Police hope to send agents to Africa |
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