Keenie Meenie Services (KMS) was one of Britain’s first mercenary companies, believed to have taken its name from Arabic slang for “undercover”. In Sri Lanka, it earned millions of pounds directing military operations and flying helicopter gunships on combat missions in which scores of civilians were killed. Lt Col Richard Holworthy, Britain’s former defence attache to Sri Lanka, told Miller that the helicopters bombed Tamil civilians using grenades placed inside wine glasses. On several occasions, Foreign Office officials asked Royle to have a quiet word with Johnson about KMS activities rather than put their concerns into writing. “You get the sense that at times the Foreign Office felt it was quite beneficial what Keenie Meenie was doing,” Miller said.

Source: The Guardian January 18, 2020 15:45 UTC