Editing Tim Spicer (section)

===Sierra Leone Scandal: the arms-to-Africa affair===
When employed by Sandline International, Spicer was involved in military operations in the [[Sierra Leone Civil War]], which included importing weapons in apparent violation of the United Nations [[arms embargo]].<ref name="thenation">{{cite web|date=29 December 2004 |url=http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20050110&s=ackerman |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050108080600/http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20050110&s=ackerman |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 January 2005 |title=Tim Spicer's World |publisher=The Nation |accessdate=14 August 2007 |last=Ackerman |first=Andrew }}</ref> The contract was first offered to Globe Risk International who declined the contract on moral grounds. He had been contacted by [[Rakesh Saxena]], an [[India]]n financier hoping that a new government would grant him diamond and mineral concessions. The controversy over this incident, and whether the British [[Foreign and Commonwealth Office]] (FCO) knew of Sandline's actions; inquiries into it concluded that the FCO had known of the actions, and that Spicer believed he was not breaking the embargo. However, former British diplomat [[Craig Murray]] claims that he was present at a Foreign office meeting when Spicer was explicitly read the text of UN [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1132|Security Council Resolution 1132]] which obliges member states to prevent their nationals from importing arms to Sierra Leone.<ref name="Craig_Murray">{{cite book|last=Murray|first=Craig|author-link=Craig Murray|title=The Catholic Orangemen of Togo and other Conflicts I Have Known|date=29 August 2023 |edition=12 January 2009|page=220|publisher=Atholl Publishing|isbn=978-0-9561299-0-1}}</ref>

Spicer maintains neither he nor Sandline did anything illegal: {{quote|Neither Sandline nor Tim Spicer did anything illegal and were, if anything, victims of a wider UK political controversy. Sandline was contracted to supply weapons and professional services to the legitimate elected government of Sierra Leone. This government had been deposed by a military junta in alliance with the Revolutionary United Front, a barbaric rebel movement. The British government knew of the action, which did not contravene international law or the UN Security Council’s arms embargo. The facts are borne out by a Government investigation, two inquiries and a UN Legal opinion.|Spicer's FAQ page<ref name="aegisworld"/>}}

Spicer has claimed that he always has called for greater involvement of the British government in the PMC issue. In fact, Lt. Col. Spicer said that six weeks before the arms-to-Africa affair blew up, Sandline had submitted a paper to the Foreign Office calling for greater regulation, but had not yet received a response. At the time, with no government response, Sandline was considering setting up its own oversight committee, including a senior retired general, a lawyer and a representative of the media.<ref name="Telegraph">{{cite web|date=22 November 1998 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.jhtml?html=/archive/1998/11/22/narmy22.html |title=Inside Lt Col Spicer's new model army |work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] |accessdate=14 August 2007 |last=Andrew Gilligan |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070519032042/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.jhtml?html=%2Farchive%2F1998%2F11%2F22%2Fnarmy22.html |archivedate=19 May 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In late 1999, Spicer left Sandline, which kept operating until 2004. The next year, he launched Crisis and Risk Management. In 2001, he changed the company's name to Strategic Consulting International and also set up a partner firm specialising in anti-[[piracy]] consulting, called Trident Maritime. In 2002, Spicer established Aegis Defence Services, which around the beginning of the [[Iraq War]] was consulting for the [[Disney|Disney Cruise Line]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2013}}