Asgaard German Security Group said it would supply up to 100 mercenaries, among them former Bundeswehr soldiers, to Somali warlord Abdinur Ahmed Darman as soon as he returns to Somalia. Darman lives in exile but claims he is the country's real president.

German politicians have harshly criticized the move, saying it would further destabilize the region.

"This is not acceptable," the defense spokesman of the opposition Social Democrats, Frank Arnold, told the Berliner Zeitung newspaper. "Laws have to be created that clearly restrict these things."

Somalia has been in a state of perpetual clan warfare since 1991, when warlords toppled the dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. A U.S.-backed transitional government led by President Sharif Sheik Ahmed has been in power since 2006 but controls only small parts of the country and not even all of the capital Mogadishu. Islamists aligned with al-Qaida this week launched military offensives in Mogadishu in a bid to topple the transitional government.

Thomas Kaltegaertner, the chief executive officer of Asgaard, said the possible mission of his contractors in Somalia would be one of peace. Darman is the only politician who could pacify the country, he told the Berliner Zeitung.

The private military contractors would only be deployed once Darman is recognized by the international community as the legitimate president of Somalia. Then, the contractors would provide human, building and vehicle security and train Somali security personnel.

While Darman isn't considered an Islamist -- he is living in the United States and enjoys good contacts to U.S. congressmen -- his chances of becoming the next president are slim. His support inside the country is limited, and officials in Germany have warned that he may not get the personnel support from Europe.

A German prosecutor Wednesday launched an investigation into whether deploying the mercenaries to Somalia would be in violation of a German law that bars the sale of services of German soldiers abroad. A Justice Ministry spokesman Wednesday said the deal could also violate an international arms embargo imposed on Somalia by the United Nations.

Meanwhile, security experts aren't thrilled by the prospect of former German troops in a country like Somalia, where some 1.5 million people have been displaced by domestic fighting.

"If a German firm were to train and support a Somali militia, that would certainly go against Germany's interests," Annette Weber from the German Institute for International and Security Affairs told public broadcaster ARD.

Neither would it look good on Germany's moral record:

For years, German politicians criticized the activities of U.S. private security contractor Blackwater, now Xe Services, in conflict zones such as Iraq.

"The U.S. government has allowed private security firms to develop into an omnipresent, uncontrollable apparatus in the war zones of this world," the left-leaning Die Tageszeitung newspaper wrote in 2007.

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