S. African mercenaries to be criminalized

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- South Africa's Parliament is set to strengthen its anti-mercenary laws by making it a crime for South Africans to serve in the British armed forces.

The bill, approved by Parliament's defense committee, will force South Africans to abandon their careers or surrender their citizenship if they serve as British "dogs of war," the Times of London reported Saturday.

The legislation, expected to pass the full assembly, also criminalizes the 5,000 to 10,000 South African hired guns serving in Iraq, the newspaper said.

The legislation was spurred by a coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea using 70 South African mercenaries in 2004. The attempted coup was financed in part by Mark Thatcher, the son of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

The number of Commonwealth citizens recruited by the British army has jumped by 3,000 percent in the past seven years.