Pirates seize giant oil tanker
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But the capture of $100m worth of oil represents a dramatic show of strength from the Somali pirates who traditionally operate from speedboats, ...
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Here There Bee (More) Pirates… and Might the Obama Administration Take Them Out? By Kenneth Anderson at Opinio Juris
Somali pirates strike again, this time hijacking a Saudi-owned tanker off the coast of Kenya. The running stand off with the hijacked ship carrying arms and a Ukrainian crew continues; Russia announces that it repelled an attack on a different Saudi vessel...
Might piracy be a relatively easy place for the Obama administration to demonstrate its approach to use of force, multilateralism, and international law? No use of force question is ever truly easy - law of unintended consequences always in effect - but clearly this is a rising issue, and one in which the vessels of many nations have been attacked and continue at risk....Much more at Opinio Juris - Kenneth poses some good questions at this post and is seeking those with operational experience to comment.
Maybe Jack Sparrow should be called
SOMALIA / PIRACY
US Admiral 'Stunned' by Pirates' Reach - Agence France-Presse
Tanker Capture Raises Alarm over Somali Piracy - Lee Keath and Jennifer Quinn, Associated Press
Call for Navies to Seek Out Pirates’ Ships - Robert Wright, Financial Times
After Hijacking, Saudi Foreign Minister Says Nation Will Join Anti-Piracy Efforts - Faiza Saleh Ambah, Washington Post
Pirates' Delight - Wall Street Journal editorial
Oil Capture Spotlights Somali Pirates' Reach - Christian Science Monitor
Conflicting Reports on Seized Saudi Oil Tanker - Voice of America
Seized Tanker Anchors off Somalia - BBC News
Hijacked Supertanker Drops Anchor - New York Times
Grain Ship Seized as Pirates Hold World to Ransom - The Times
Pirates Hijack Another Merchant Ship off Africa - Los Angeles Times
Hong Kong Grain Ship Hijacked by Pirates - Reuters
Ships Diverted after Saudi Oil Tanker Hijacked - Associated Press
Indian Navy Battles Pirates off Somalia Coast - Voice of America
Indian Navy Says it Fought Off Pirate Ship - Associated Press
Somali Pirates Try to Seize British Ship - Daily Telegraph
Somali Pirates Hijack Thai Fishing Boat - Associated Press
Impoverished Land Awash with Millions of Dollars - The Times
Maritime Terrorism - The Times editorial
At War with Pirates on the High Seas - Los Angeles Times editorial
We Must Defend our High Seas - The Times opinion
US Admiral 'Stunned' by Pirates' Reach - Agence France-Presse
The top US military officer said Monday he was "stunned" by the reach of the Somali pirates who seized a Saudi supertanker off the east coast of Africa, calling piracy a growing problem that needs to be addressed.
But Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said there were limits to what the world's navies could do once a ship has been captured because national governments often preferred to pay pirates ransom.
"I'm stunned by the range of it, less so than I am the size," Mullen said of the seizure of the Sirius Star Sunday by armed men.
The huge, oil laden prize, which is three times the size of a US aircraft carrier, was some 450 miles east of Kenya when it was boarded, he said.More at Agence France-Presse.
Tanker Capture Raises Alarm over Somali Piracy - Lee Keath and Jennifer Quinn, Associated Press
It seems inconceivable: Somali pirates in speedboats foil warships from the world's most powerful navies to prey on shipping lanes crucial to the oil supply.
How do they do it? Basically, it's a big ocean and no one wants to be top cop.
NATO and the US Navy say they can't be everywhere, and American officials are urging ships to hire private security. Warships patrolling off Somalia have succeeded in stopping some pirate attacks. But military assaults to wrest back a ship are highly risky and, to this point, uncommon.More at The Associated Press.
Call for Navies to Seek Out Pirates’ Ships - Robert Wright, Financial Times
Naval forces off Somalia must take firm action to tackle the vessels pirates are using as bases for long-range attacks, shipping organisations said on Tuesday after Saturday’s audacious seizure of a huge oil tanker.
Since the weekend hijack of the Saudi tanker, pirates have seized two more ships - a Greek bulk carrier, in the Gulf of Aden with about 25 crew on board, and a Hong Kong-flagged ship carrying grain and bound for Iran.
Peter Hinchliffe, marine director of the International Chamber of Shipping, said naval forces could identify the “motherships” from which attacks were launched and that there was a legal right to search them and seize weapons.
“We want [naval forces] to go on board, look for evidence of piracy, confiscate the weapons, confiscate the ships if possible and arrest the pirates,” he said.More at Financial Times.
After Hijacking, Saudi Foreign Minister Says Nation Will Join Anti-Piracy Efforts - Faiza Saleh Ambah, Washington Post
Saudi Arabia's foreign minister on Tuesday condemned the hijacking of a Saudi supertanker carrying $100 million in crude oil, calling piracy "a disease that has to be eradicated."
The 1,080-foot Sirius Star was seized by Somali pirates Sunday off East Africa. Its owner, Vela International, said the tanker is now believed to be anchored off the coast of Somalia.
Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said his country would join international efforts to battle piracy, which has surged to levels unseen in modern times.More at The Washington Post.
Pirates' Delight - Wall Street Journal editorial
The latest ship to fall into the hands of pirates off the coast of northern Africa is a Hong Kong-registered cargo vessel captured yesterday in the Gulf of Aden. The unfortunately named Delight is now steaming toward Somalia, where it presumably will be held for ransom. It joins the Saudi supertanker, Sirius Star, seized over the weekend.
The assault on the Delight is one of 90-plus attacks on ships this year by Somali pirates, more than double last year's tally, according to the International Maritime Bureau. It says that pirates are currently holding 15 ships and more than 250 sailors. That includes a Ukrainian ship carrying Russian tanks intended for southern Sudan; it was captured in September.
The pirates' headquarters is Somalia, whose dysfunctional government lacks basic law-enforcement agencies, on or off shore, to disrupt pirates. It has a 1,000-mile coastline along the Gulf of Aden, where marauders and their boats can hide easily. Yemen and Djibouti, which also border the Gulf of Aden, are more politically stable, but have few capabilities. The same is true for Kenya, off whose coast the supertanker was taken.More at The Wall Street Journal and:
Oil Capture Spotlights Somali Pirates' Reach - Christian Science Monitor
Conflicting Reports on Seized Saudi Oil Tanker - Voice of America
Seized Tanker Anchors off Somalia - BBC News
Hijacked Supertanker Drops Anchor - New York Times
Grain Ship Seized as Pirates Hold World to Ransom - The Times
Pirates Hijack Another Merchant Ship off Africa - Los Angeles Times
Hong Kong Grain Ship Hijacked by Pirates - Reuters
Ships Diverted after Saudi Oil Tanker Hijacked - Associated Press
Indian Navy Battles Pirates off Somalia Coast - Voice of America
Indian Navy Says it Fought Off Pirate Ship - Associated Press
Somali Pirates Try to Seize British Ship - Daily Telegraph
Somali Pirates Hijack Thai Fishing Boat - Associated Press
Impoverished Land Awash with Millions of Dollars - The Times
Maritime Terrorism - The Times editorial
At War with Pirates on the High Seas - Los Angeles Times editorial
We Must Defend our High Seas - The Times opinion
Asia held hostage on the high seas
It has been centuries since armed robbery on the high seas has taken on the dramatic geopolitical dimensions it has today. But piracy is back, and the brazen recent successes of Somali buccaneers has shocked governments and navies, and thrown oil companies and shipowners into panic. As this week's hijacking of a Saudi oil supertanker shows, the risk of pillage and plunder is getting worse, and leaders from Japan to South Korea to Hong Kong and India want action to protect their trade routes. - Keith Wallis (Nov 19,'08)
South Korea aims broadside at pirates
Seoul, stung by the repeated targeting of South Korean commercial ships, is set to deploy a 4,500-ton stealth destroyer to battle pirates off the coast of Somalia. This means South Korean troops will close down their operations in Iraq to focus on protecting the trade routes to and from Asia. Other Asian nations may not be far behind. - Donald Kirk (Nov 19,'08)
It has been centuries since armed robbery on the high seas has taken on the dramatic geopolitical dimensions it has today. But piracy is back, and the brazen recent successes of Somali buccaneers has shocked governments and navies, and thrown oil companies and shipowners into panic. As this week's hijacking of a Saudi oil supertanker shows, the risk of pillage and plunder is getting worse, and leaders from Japan to South Korea to Hong Kong and India want action to protect their trade routes. - Keith Wallis (Nov 19,'08) South Korea aims broadside at pirates
Seoul, stung by the repeated targeting of South Korean commercial ships, is set to deploy a 4,500-ton stealth destroyer to battle pirates off the coast of Somalia. This means South Korean troops will close down their operations in Iraq to focus on protecting the trade routes to and from Asia. Other Asian nations may not be far behind. - Donald Kirk (Nov 19,'08)
The situation should turn around by mid December, by then Russia should have enough assets in place, they're likely to kill the pirates after they kill their families and raze their villages.
World Grapples with Pirate Problem - Peter Spiegel and Henry Chu, Los Angeles Times
Somali Pirates Seize Ninth Vessel in 12 Days - Catherine Philp, The Times
Indian Naval Warship Destroys Pirate Vessel - Emily Wax and Ann Scott Tyson, Washington Post
A Surge to Wipe Out Pirates of the Horn - Everett Pyatt, Real Clear World opinion
Indian Navy Destroys Pirate Ship in Gulf of Aden - Voice of America
Indian Navy Says It Sank Pirate Ship - New York Times
Indian Warship Destroys Suspected Pirate Vessel - Los Angeles Times
India Leads Fight Against Somali Pirates - Christian Science Monitor
Pirate Boat Sunk But Attacks Continue - Daily Telegraph
Indian Navy Sinks Pirate 'Mother Ship' - Associated Press
Negotiations Begin for Sirius Hostages - The Australian
Somali Pirates Talk Ransom for Supertanker - Voice of America
Saudi Owners 'Talking to Pirates' - BBC News
Somali Pirates Transform Villages into Boomtowns - Associated Press
Military, Shippers Must Work Together to Deter Pirates, Official Says - AFPS
Time for an Anti-piracy Coalition of the Willing - Forbes opinion
Bring Justice to Somalia's Fisheries - Christian Science Monitor opinion
19 November
US Admiral 'Stunned' by Pirates' Reach - Agence France-Presse
Tanker Capture Raises Alarm over Somali Piracy - Lee Keath and Jennifer Quinn, Associated Press
Call for Navies to Seek Out Pirates’ Ships - Robert Wright, Financial Times
After Hijacking, Saudi Foreign Minister Says Nation Will Join Anti-Piracy Efforts - Faiza Saleh Ambah, Washington Post
Pirates' Delight - Wall Street Journal editorial
Oil Capture Spotlights Somali Pirates' Reach - Christian Science Monitor
Conflicting Reports on Seized Saudi Oil Tanker - Voice of America
Seized Tanker Anchors off Somalia - BBC News
Hijacked Supertanker Drops Anchor - New York Times
Grain Ship Seized as Pirates Hold World to Ransom - The Times
Pirates Hijack Another Merchant Ship off Africa - Los Angeles Times
Hong Kong Grain Ship Hijacked by Pirates - Reuters
Ships Diverted after Saudi Oil Tanker Hijacked - Associated Press
Indian Navy Battles Pirates off Somalia Coast - Voice of America
Indian Navy Says it Fought Off Pirate Ship - Associated Press
Somali Pirates Try to Seize British Ship - Daily Telegraph
Somali Pirates Hijack Thai Fishing Boat - Associated Press
Impoverished Land Awash with Millions of Dollars - The Times
Maritime Terrorism - The Times editorial
At War with Pirates on the High Seas - Los Angeles Times editorial
We Must Defend our High Seas - The Times opinion
The Saudis chose to negotiate. The Indian navy opened fire. The US Navy said shipping companies should do more to protect their vessels, and the ship owners said governments should guard the high seas.
But everyone wants the barely functioning government of Somalia to control the pirates who sail from its ports to seize the cargo ships and tankers that ply past.
Mightily armed, but slightly baffled, 21st century civilization appears to have no collective answer to piracy, a scourge once considered banished into history.More at The Los Angeles Times.
Somali Pirates Seize Ninth Vessel in 12 Days - Catherine Philp, The Times
The battle with pirates operating off the coast of Somalia grew yesterday when raiders seized two more ships but lost one of their own in an uneven firefight with the Indian Navy. The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) described the situation yesterday as “out of control”.
The surge in hijackings came as Saudi Arabia confirmed that a ransom demand had been made for the freeing of the Sirius Star supertanker, seized at the weekend with her crew of 25 and a cargo of oil worth $100 million (£65 million).
Two more vessels – a Thai fishing boat with a crew of 16 and a bulk carrier, believed to be Greek, with an unknown number of people aboard – were seized by pirates in the Gulf of Aden yesterday, bringing the total to nine vessels in 12 days.
Late on Tuesday night the Indian frigate Tabar destroyed the raiders’ “mother ship” after coming under attack from pirates firing rocketpropelled grenades, the Indian Navy said. The confrontation was the first involving one of the vessels used by the pirates to extend their range. Shipping groups said that the loss of a vessel did not mean that the pirates’ activities would be curtailed. “The situation is already out of control,” said Noel Choong, head of the piracy reporting centre at the IMB in Kuala Lumpur. “With no strong deterrent, low risk to the pirates and high returns, the attacks will continue.”More at The Times
Indian Naval Warship Destroys Pirate Vessel - Emily Wax and Ann Scott Tyson, Washington Post
An Indian navy frigate battled with and sank a vessel described as a pirate mother ship in the Gulf of Aden, one of the world's busiest and most lawless shipping lanes, the navy said Wednesday.
Amid a surge of piracy around the hijacking-plagued Horn of Africa, the Indian navy said in a statement that fire from its INS Tabar set the pirate vessel aflame after it failed to stop for investigation.
The overnight battle in the Gulf of Aden, the gateway to the Suez Canal and the main shipping route from Asia and the Middle East to Europe, occurred days after the Saudi-owned Sirius Star supertanker and its 25 crew members were seized. It is the biggest tanker hijacked to date and is carrying 2 million barrels of oil -- a quarter of Saudi Arabia's daily output, valued at $100 million.More at The Washington Post.
A Surge to Wipe Out Pirates of the Horn - Everett Pyatt, Real Clear World opinion
Last night the Indian Navy Ship Tabar struck a long overdue blow for freedom of the seas by sinking a pirate mother ship in the pirate-infested waters of the Gulf of Aden. At last, the pirates will know that the hijacking party has been crashed.
Some are questioning whether the Tabar acted in self-defense. Ridiculous, they acted in the cause of law and order in support of freedom - a much higher calling.
Perhaps this event will shake other nations out of their unwillingness to address the threat and put together a meaningful military force to eliminate these nautical terrorists who prefer to call themselves businessmen. They make the Mafia look like kindergarteners.More at Real Clear World and:
Indian Navy Destroys Pirate Ship in Gulf of Aden - Voice of America
Indian Navy Says It Sank Pirate Ship - New York Times
Indian Warship Destroys Suspected Pirate Vessel - Los Angeles Times
India Leads Fight Against Somali Pirates - Christian Science Monitor
Pirate Boat Sunk But Attacks Continue - Daily Telegraph
Indian Navy Sinks Pirate 'Mother Ship' - Associated Press
Negotiations Begin for Sirius Hostages - The Australian
Somali Pirates Talk Ransom for Supertanker - Voice of America
Saudi Owners 'Talking to Pirates' - BBC News
Somali Pirates Transform Villages into Boomtowns - Associated Press
Military, Shippers Must Work Together to Deter Pirates, Official Says - AFPS
Time for an Anti-piracy Coalition of the Willing - Forbes opinion
Bring Justice to Somalia's Fisheries - Christian Science Monitor opinion
19 November
US Admiral 'Stunned' by Pirates' Reach - Agence France-Presse
The top US military officer said Monday he was "stunned" by the reach of the Somali pirates who seized a Saudi supertanker off the east coast of Africa, calling piracy a growing problem that needs to be addressed.
But Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said there were limits to what the world's navies could do once a ship has been captured because national governments often preferred to pay pirates ransom.
"I'm stunned by the range of it, less so than I am the size," Mullen said of the seizure of the Sirius Star Sunday by armed men.
The huge, oil laden prize, which is three times the size of a US aircraft carrier, was some 450 miles east of Kenya when it was boarded, he said.More at Agence France-Presse.
Tanker Capture Raises Alarm over Somali Piracy - Lee Keath and Jennifer Quinn, Associated Press
It seems inconceivable: Somali pirates in speedboats foil warships from the world's most powerful navies to prey on shipping lanes crucial to the oil supply.
How do they do it? Basically, it's a big ocean and no one wants to be top cop.
NATO and the US Navy say they can't be everywhere, and American officials are urging ships to hire private security. Warships patrolling off Somalia have succeeded in stopping some pirate attacks. But military assaults to wrest back a ship are highly risky and, to this point, uncommon.More at The Associated Press.
Call for Navies to Seek Out Pirates’ Ships - Robert Wright, Financial Times
Naval forces off Somalia must take firm action to tackle the vessels pirates are using as bases for long-range attacks, shipping organisations said on Tuesday after Saturday’s audacious seizure of a huge oil tanker.
Since the weekend hijack of the Saudi tanker, pirates have seized two more ships - a Greek bulk carrier, in the Gulf of Aden with about 25 crew on board, and a Hong Kong-flagged ship carrying grain and bound for Iran.
Peter Hinchliffe, marine director of the International Chamber of Shipping, said naval forces could identify the “motherships” from which attacks were launched and that there was a legal right to search them and seize weapons.
“We want [naval forces] to go on board, look for evidence of piracy, confiscate the weapons, confiscate the ships if possible and arrest the pirates,” he said.More at Financial Times.
After Hijacking, Saudi Foreign Minister Says Nation Will Join Anti-Piracy Efforts - Faiza Saleh Ambah, Washington Post
Saudi Arabia's foreign minister on Tuesday condemned the hijacking of a Saudi supertanker carrying $100 million in crude oil, calling piracy "a disease that has to be eradicated."
The 1,080-foot Sirius Star was seized by Somali pirates Sunday off East Africa. Its owner, Vela International, said the tanker is now believed to be anchored off the coast of Somalia.
Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said his country would join international efforts to battle piracy, which has surged to levels unseen in modern times.More at The Washington Post.
Pirates' Delight - Wall Street Journal editorial
The latest ship to fall into the hands of pirates off the coast of northern Africa is a Hong Kong-registered cargo vessel captured yesterday in the Gulf of Aden. The unfortunately named Delight is now steaming toward Somalia, where it presumably will be held for ransom. It joins the Saudi supertanker, Sirius Star, seized over the weekend.
The assault on the Delight is one of 90-plus attacks on ships this year by Somali pirates, more than double last year's tally, according to the International Maritime Bureau. It says that pirates are currently holding 15 ships and more than 250 sailors. That includes a Ukrainian ship carrying Russian tanks intended for southern Sudan; it was captured in September.
The pirates' headquarters is Somalia, whose dysfunctional government lacks basic law-enforcement agencies, on or off shore, to disrupt pirates. It has a 1,000-mile coastline along the Gulf of Aden, where marauders and their boats can hide easily. Yemen and Djibouti, which also border the Gulf of Aden, are more politically stable, but have few capabilities. The same is true for Kenya, off whose coast the supertanker was taken.More at The Wall Street Journal and:
Oil Capture Spotlights Somali Pirates' Reach - Christian Science Monitor
Conflicting Reports on Seized Saudi Oil Tanker - Voice of America
Seized Tanker Anchors off Somalia - BBC News
Hijacked Supertanker Drops Anchor - New York Times
Grain Ship Seized as Pirates Hold World to Ransom - The Times
Pirates Hijack Another Merchant Ship off Africa - Los Angeles Times
Hong Kong Grain Ship Hijacked by Pirates - Reuters
Ships Diverted after Saudi Oil Tanker Hijacked - Associated Press
Indian Navy Battles Pirates off Somalia Coast - Voice of America
Indian Navy Says it Fought Off Pirate Ship - Associated Press
Somali Pirates Try to Seize British Ship - Daily Telegraph
Somali Pirates Hijack Thai Fishing Boat - Associated Press
Impoverished Land Awash with Millions of Dollars - The Times
Maritime Terrorism - The Times editorial
At War with Pirates on the High Seas - Los Angeles Times editorial
We Must Defend our High Seas - The Times opinion
Islamist Fighters Warn Pirates to Free Saudi Tanker - Daily Telegraph
Somali Pirates Move Saudi Tanker as Islamists Warn of Attacks - Bloomberg
Somali Pirates Move Saudi Tanker as Islamists Warn of Attacks - Bloomberg
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
11/24/08
Who are Somalia's pirates?
A Monitor Q&A reveals who's behind the modern-day pirates, how they got so good at taking ships, and what's being done to stop them.
Scott Baldauf
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - – Today's pirates are mainly fighters for Somalia's many warlord factions, who have fought each other for control of the country since the collapse of the Siad Barre government in 1991.
Their motives? A mixture of entrepreneurialism and survival, says Iqbal Jhazbhay, a Somali expert at the University of South Africa in Tshwane, as Pretoria is now called.
"From the evidence so far, these primarily appear to be fighters looking for predatory opportunities," says Mr. Jhazbhay. They operated "roadblocks in the past, which were fleecing people as a form of taxation. Now they've seen the opportunities on the high seas."
Initially, one of the main motives for taking to the seas – working first with local fishermen, and later buying boats and weapons with the proceeds of every ship they captured – was "pure survival," says Jhazbhay, explaining that armed extortion is one of the few opportunities to make a living in lawless Somalia.
"It's spiked more recently because of a spike in food prices," he says.
Now it has become a highly profitable, sophisticated criminal enterprise hauling in millions of dollars in ransom payments.
Whom do they work for?
The pirates mainly work for themselves.
Much of the piracy seems to be based out of the Puntland, a semiautonomous region on the northern shore of Somalia that broke away from Somalia soon after 1991.
Thousands of pirates now operate off Somalia's coast, although there are no accurate numbers on precisely how many there are.
United Nations monitoring reports on arms smuggling in the Horn of Africa have pointed to evidence that pirate gangs have established relations with corrupt officials of the Puntland government. They bribe port officials to allow the pirates to use Eyl and other ports as their bases of operation, and to bring some of their captured ships in for safekeeping while the pirates negotiate ransoms with the ships' owners.
There is also evidence that expatriate Somalis living in Kenya, Saudi Arabia, and throughout the Persian Gulf may be feeding information to the pirates about ships that have docked in those regions and may be heading toward the Gulf of Aden and other pirate-infested areas.
Who benefits from this piracy?
The money seems to be distributed by warlords to their families and friends, and then further outward toward their fellow clan-members, says Jhazbhay.
There have been charges recently that local Islamist groups may be linked to the pirate gangs, and may have begun to use piracy as a source of funds to buy weapons.
Certainly, Islamist groups such as Al Shabab – an insurgent group formed after the Islamic Courts Union lost control of the country last year in the wake of a US-backed invasion by Somalia's neighbor, Ethiopia – have used pirate gangs to smuggle weapons into Somalia, which is currently under international weapons sanctions. But the evidence is thin, as yet, that Islamist groups are using piracy on the high seas as a funding mechanism.
"The last thing the Islamists want to do is give an unnecessary provocation to the major powers, who might come after them in a big way," says Richard Cornwell, a senior analyst at the Institute for Security Studies in Tshwane. "What experience tells us is that if the Islamists did take control of Somalia, piracy would stop overnight. They don't want warlords gaining arms and money outside of their control."
Is there an Al Qaeda connection?
While the CIA's chief, Gen. Michael Hayden, suggested recently that Al Qaeda was beginning to expand its reach in the Horn of Africa, and possibly reaching out to radical local Islamist parties such as Al Shabab in Somalia, there appears to be little evidence of a connection between international Islamist groups such as Al Qaeda and piracy.
"There may be some loose elements among the Islamist groups that have tie-ups with the pirates, because the movement is fractured into six or seven different groups, and each may have its own problems getting funding," says Jhazbhay.
How did they get so good at taking ships?
Practice, practice, practice.
More than 90 ships have been attacked off the coast of Somalia this year. Seventeen ships remain in the hands of Somali pirates. The Saudi owners of the Sirius Star, the oil tanker taken Nov. 15, are reportedly in contact with the pirates, possibly to negotiate the release of the ship, its crew, and the estimated $110 million cargo of crude oil.
"What staggered the mind is that this capture was 400 nautical miles out to sea," says Mr. Cornwell. "That's far deeper water than anything we've seen before. But with a GPS they can hijack to order." Using a mother ship – often an old Russian trawler – to prowl deeper waters for their target, they can offload smaller boats to move in close and overtake the ship, and climb up with hooks and ladders, and submachine guns.
"With a fully laden tanker ship, you have a fairly low free board, so it is easy to get up on board from smaller boats," says Cornwell. "Tankers are an obvious target of opportunity."
How will it affect security and trade?
Somalia is under international weapons sanctions, and warlord groups continue to fight both against the Ethiopian peacekeeping mission and against each other. But an influx of money is likely to mean a further influx of weapons to an already wartorn land.
"Regionally, I think the major problem is that piracy has given some groups the chance to lay their hands on money," says Jhazbhay. "There may be $30 million in ransom money received in recent years. Once they [the various armed groups] get that kind of money, they can buy a ground-to-air missile. Getting [a hold of] arms can affect the struggle for freedom in Somalia, and that affects the whole region."
What's being done to stop them?
Currently, the NATO alliance, the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, and a host of other countries have ships patrolling the coast of Somalia and the Gulf of Aden – an area of approximately 1.1 million square miles – to prevent piracy.
On Nov. 18, an Indian warship sank a suspected pirate mother ship off the coast of Yemen, after the pirates fired on them.
But given the size of the territory, and the amount of shipping traffic that flows past Somalia from the Suez Canal, naval patrolling cannot guarantee the safety of commercial vessels.
"Unless you have a warship in the immediate area, and, crucially, with a helicopter, you've got no chance of stopping them," says Cornwell.
While individual ships can protect themselves with everything from barbed wire around the ship itself to high-pressure hoses, coalition forces can also do more to track and neutralize suspected pirate mother ships. "I can't see why more work isn't being done with satellites to find the mother ships," says Cornwell.
Egypt hosted a Nov. 20 emergency meeting with Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Jordan to try to forge a joint strategy against piracy, which threatens a crucial international trade route through the Suez Canal in the Red Sea – Egypt's key source of revenue.
11/24/08
Who are Somalia's pirates?
A Monitor Q&A reveals who's behind the modern-day pirates, how they got so good at taking ships, and what's being done to stop them.
Scott Baldauf
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - – Today's pirates are mainly fighters for Somalia's many warlord factions, who have fought each other for control of the country since the collapse of the Siad Barre government in 1991.
Their motives? A mixture of entrepreneurialism and survival, says Iqbal Jhazbhay, a Somali expert at the University of South Africa in Tshwane, as Pretoria is now called.
"From the evidence so far, these primarily appear to be fighters looking for predatory opportunities," says Mr. Jhazbhay. They operated "roadblocks in the past, which were fleecing people as a form of taxation. Now they've seen the opportunities on the high seas."
Initially, one of the main motives for taking to the seas – working first with local fishermen, and later buying boats and weapons with the proceeds of every ship they captured – was "pure survival," says Jhazbhay, explaining that armed extortion is one of the few opportunities to make a living in lawless Somalia.
"It's spiked more recently because of a spike in food prices," he says.
Now it has become a highly profitable, sophisticated criminal enterprise hauling in millions of dollars in ransom payments.
Whom do they work for?
The pirates mainly work for themselves.
Much of the piracy seems to be based out of the Puntland, a semiautonomous region on the northern shore of Somalia that broke away from Somalia soon after 1991.
Thousands of pirates now operate off Somalia's coast, although there are no accurate numbers on precisely how many there are.
United Nations monitoring reports on arms smuggling in the Horn of Africa have pointed to evidence that pirate gangs have established relations with corrupt officials of the Puntland government. They bribe port officials to allow the pirates to use Eyl and other ports as their bases of operation, and to bring some of their captured ships in for safekeeping while the pirates negotiate ransoms with the ships' owners.
There is also evidence that expatriate Somalis living in Kenya, Saudi Arabia, and throughout the Persian Gulf may be feeding information to the pirates about ships that have docked in those regions and may be heading toward the Gulf of Aden and other pirate-infested areas.
Who benefits from this piracy?
The money seems to be distributed by warlords to their families and friends, and then further outward toward their fellow clan-members, says Jhazbhay.
There have been charges recently that local Islamist groups may be linked to the pirate gangs, and may have begun to use piracy as a source of funds to buy weapons.
Certainly, Islamist groups such as Al Shabab – an insurgent group formed after the Islamic Courts Union lost control of the country last year in the wake of a US-backed invasion by Somalia's neighbor, Ethiopia – have used pirate gangs to smuggle weapons into Somalia, which is currently under international weapons sanctions. But the evidence is thin, as yet, that Islamist groups are using piracy on the high seas as a funding mechanism.
"The last thing the Islamists want to do is give an unnecessary provocation to the major powers, who might come after them in a big way," says Richard Cornwell, a senior analyst at the Institute for Security Studies in Tshwane. "What experience tells us is that if the Islamists did take control of Somalia, piracy would stop overnight. They don't want warlords gaining arms and money outside of their control."
Is there an Al Qaeda connection?
While the CIA's chief, Gen. Michael Hayden, suggested recently that Al Qaeda was beginning to expand its reach in the Horn of Africa, and possibly reaching out to radical local Islamist parties such as Al Shabab in Somalia, there appears to be little evidence of a connection between international Islamist groups such as Al Qaeda and piracy.
"There may be some loose elements among the Islamist groups that have tie-ups with the pirates, because the movement is fractured into six or seven different groups, and each may have its own problems getting funding," says Jhazbhay.
How did they get so good at taking ships?
Practice, practice, practice.
More than 90 ships have been attacked off the coast of Somalia this year. Seventeen ships remain in the hands of Somali pirates. The Saudi owners of the Sirius Star, the oil tanker taken Nov. 15, are reportedly in contact with the pirates, possibly to negotiate the release of the ship, its crew, and the estimated $110 million cargo of crude oil.
"What staggered the mind is that this capture was 400 nautical miles out to sea," says Mr. Cornwell. "That's far deeper water than anything we've seen before. But with a GPS they can hijack to order." Using a mother ship – often an old Russian trawler – to prowl deeper waters for their target, they can offload smaller boats to move in close and overtake the ship, and climb up with hooks and ladders, and submachine guns.
"With a fully laden tanker ship, you have a fairly low free board, so it is easy to get up on board from smaller boats," says Cornwell. "Tankers are an obvious target of opportunity."
How will it affect security and trade?
Somalia is under international weapons sanctions, and warlord groups continue to fight both against the Ethiopian peacekeeping mission and against each other. But an influx of money is likely to mean a further influx of weapons to an already wartorn land.
"Regionally, I think the major problem is that piracy has given some groups the chance to lay their hands on money," says Jhazbhay. "There may be $30 million in ransom money received in recent years. Once they [the various armed groups] get that kind of money, they can buy a ground-to-air missile. Getting [a hold of] arms can affect the struggle for freedom in Somalia, and that affects the whole region."
What's being done to stop them?
Currently, the NATO alliance, the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, and a host of other countries have ships patrolling the coast of Somalia and the Gulf of Aden – an area of approximately 1.1 million square miles – to prevent piracy.
On Nov. 18, an Indian warship sank a suspected pirate mother ship off the coast of Yemen, after the pirates fired on them.
But given the size of the territory, and the amount of shipping traffic that flows past Somalia from the Suez Canal, naval patrolling cannot guarantee the safety of commercial vessels.
"Unless you have a warship in the immediate area, and, crucially, with a helicopter, you've got no chance of stopping them," says Cornwell.
While individual ships can protect themselves with everything from barbed wire around the ship itself to high-pressure hoses, coalition forces can also do more to track and neutralize suspected pirate mother ships. "I can't see why more work isn't being done with satellites to find the mother ships," says Cornwell.
Egypt hosted a Nov. 20 emergency meeting with Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Jordan to try to forge a joint strategy against piracy, which threatens a crucial international trade route through the Suez Canal in the Red Sea – Egypt's key source of revenue.
FP PASSPORT Amid a slew of piracy stories from Somalia,a fake Bloomberg piece is circulating the 'net today with a report that Wall Street bankers might cringe upon reading: Somali Pirates in Discussions to Acquire Citigroup
By Andreas Hippin
November 20 (Bloomberg) -- The Somali pirates, renegade Somalis known for hijacking ships for ransom in the Gulf of Aden, are negotiating a purchase of Citigroup.
The pirates would buy Citigroup with new debt and their existing cash stockpiles, earned most recently from hijacking numerous ships, including most recently a $200 million Saudi Arabian oil tanker. The Somali pirates are offering up to $0.10 per share for Citigroup, pirate spokesman Sugule Ali said earlier today. The negotiations have entered the final stage, Ali said.
"You may not like our price, but we are not in the business of paying for things. Be happy we are in the mood to
offer the shareholders anything," said Ali.
The pirates will finance part of the purchase by selling new Pirate Ransom Backed Securities. The PRBS's are backed by the cash flows from future ransom payments from hijackings in the Gulf of Aden. Moody's and S&P have already issued their top investment grade ratings for the PRBS's.
Head pirate, Ubu Kalid Shandu, said: "We need a bank so that we have a place to keep all of our ransom money. Thankfully, the dislocations in the capital markets has allowed us to purchase Citigroup
at an attractive valuation and to take advantage of TARP capital to grow the business even faster."
Shandu added, "We don't call ourselves pirates. We are coastguards and this will just allow us to guard our coasts better."
In real pirate news, the Weekly Piracy Report counted 11 incidents last week. And James Carrol debunks the lessons of piracy in the International Herald Tribune.
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By Andreas Hippin
November 20 (Bloomberg) -- The Somali pirates, renegade Somalis known for hijacking ships for ransom in the Gulf of Aden, are negotiating a purchase of Citigroup.
The pirates would buy Citigroup with new debt and their existing cash stockpiles, earned most recently from hijacking numerous ships, including most recently a $200 million Saudi Arabian oil tanker. The Somali pirates are offering up to $0.10 per share for Citigroup, pirate spokesman Sugule Ali said earlier today. The negotiations have entered the final stage, Ali said.
"You may not like our price, but we are not in the business of paying for things. Be happy we are in the mood to
offer the shareholders anything," said Ali.
The pirates will finance part of the purchase by selling new Pirate Ransom Backed Securities. The PRBS's are backed by the cash flows from future ransom payments from hijackings in the Gulf of Aden. Moody's and S&P have already issued their top investment grade ratings for the PRBS's.
Head pirate, Ubu Kalid Shandu, said: "We need a bank so that we have a place to keep all of our ransom money. Thankfully, the dislocations in the capital markets has allowed us to purchase Citigroup
at an attractive valuation and to take advantage of TARP capital to grow the business even faster."
Shandu added, "We don't call ourselves pirates. We are coastguards and this will just allow us to guard our coasts better."
In real pirate news, the Weekly Piracy Report counted 11 incidents last week. And James Carrol debunks the lessons of piracy in the International Herald Tribune.
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[b]CHICAGO TRIBUNE[/b]
11/24/08
'Nobody is Watching:' America's hidden war in Somalia
Paul Salopek
To glimpse America's secret war in Africa, you must bang with a rock on the iron gate of the prison in this remote port in northern Somalia. A sleepy guard will yank open a rusty deadbolt. Then, you ask to speak to an inmate named Mohamed Ali Isse.
Isse, 36, is a convicted murderer and jihadist. He is known among his fellow prisoners, with grudging awe, as "The Man with the American Thing in His Leg."
That "thing" is a stainless steel surgical pin screwed into his bullet-shattered femur, courtesy, he says, of the U.S. Navy. How it got there — or more to the point, how Isse ended up in this crumbling, stone-walled hellhole at the uttermost end of the Earth—is a story that the U.S. government probably would prefer to remain untold.
That's because Isse and his fancy surgery scars offer what little tangible evidence exists of a bare-knuckled war that has been waged silently, over the past five years, with the sole aim of preventing anarchic Somalia from becoming the world's next Afghanistan.
It is a standoff war in which the Pentagon lobs million-dollar cruise missiles into a famine-haunted African wasteland the size of Texas, hoping to kill lone terror suspects who might be dozing in candlelit huts. (The raids' success or failure is almost impossible to verify.)
It is a covert war in which the CIA has recruited gangs of unsavory warlords to hunt down and kidnap Islamic militants and—according to Isse and civil rights activists—secretly imprison them offshore, aboard U.S. warships.
Mostly, though, it is a policy time bomb that will be inherited by the incoming Obama administration: a little-known front in the global war on terrorism that Washington appears to be losing, if it hasn't already been lost.
"Somalia is one of the great unrecognized U.S. policy failures since 9/11," said Ken Menkhaus, a leading Somalia scholar at Davidson College in North Carolina. "By any rational metric, what we've ended up with there today is the opposite of what we wanted."
What the Bush administration wanted, when it tacitly backed Ethiopia's invasion of Somalia in late 2006, was clear enough: to help a close African ally in the war on terror crush the Islamic Courts Union, or ICU. The Taliban-like movement emerged from the ashes of more than 15 years of anarchy and lawlessness in Africa's most infamous failed state, Somalia.
At first, the invasion seemed an easy victory. By early 2007, the ICU had been routed, a pro-Western transitional government installed, and hundreds of Islamic militants in Somalia either captured or killed.
But over the last 18 months, Somalia's Islamists—now more radical than ever—have regrouped and roared back.
On a single day last month, they flexed their muscles by killing nearly 30 people in a spate of bloody car-bomb attacks that recalled the darkest days of Iraq. And their brutal militia, the Shabab or "Youth," today controls much of the destitute nation, a shattered but strategic country that overlooks the vital oil-shipping lanes of the Gulf of Aden.
Even worse, in recent days Shabab's fighters have moved to within miles of the Somalian capital of Mogadishu, threatening to topple the weak interim government supported by the U.S. and Ethiopia.
At the same time, according to the UN, the explosion of violence is inflaming what probably is the worst humanitarian tragedy in the world.
In the midst of a killing drought, more than 700,000 city dwellers have been driven out of bullet-scarred Mogadishu by the recent clashes between the Islamist rebels and the interim government.
The U.S. role in Somalia's current agonies has not always been clear. But back in the Berbera prison, Isse, who is both a villain and a victim in this immense panorama of suffering, offered a keyhole view that extended all the way back to Washington.
Wrapped in a faded sarong, scowling in the blistering-hot prison yard, the jihadist at first refused to meet foreign visitors—a loathed American in particular. But after some cajoling, he agreed to tell his story through a fellow inmate: a surreal but credible tale of illicit abduction by the CIA, secret helicopter rides and a journey through an African gulag that lifts the curtain, albeit only briefly, on an American invisible war.
"Your government gets away with a lot here," said the warden, Hassan Mohamed Ibrahim, striding about his antique facility with a pistol tucked in the back of his pants. "In Iraq, the world is watching. In Afghanistan, the world is watching. In Somalia, nobody is watching."
From ashes of 'Black Hawk Down'
In truth, merely watching in Mogadishu these days is apt to get you killed.
Somalia's hapless capital has long been considered the Dodge City of Africa—a seaside metropolis sundered by clan fighting ever since the nation's central government collapsed in 1991. That feral reputation was cemented in 1993, when chanting mobs dragged the bodies of U.S. Army Rangers through the streets in a disastrous UN peacekeeping mission chronicled in the book and movie "Black Hawk Down."
Yet if Mogadishu was once merely a perilous destination for outsiders, visiting today is suicidal.
For the first time in local memory, the airport—the city's frail lifeline to the world—is regularly closed by insurgent mortar attacks despite a small and jittery contingent of African Union peacekeepers.
Foreign workers who once toiled quietly for years in Somalia have been evacuated. A U.S. missile strike in May killed the Shabab commander, Aden Hashi Ayro, enraging Islamist militants who have since vowed to kidnap and kill any outsider found in the country.
The upshot: Most of Somalia today is closed to the world.
It wasn't supposed to turn out this way when Washington provided intelligence to the invading Ethiopians two years ago.
The homegrown Islamic radicals who controlled most of central and southern Somalia in mid-2006 certainly were no angels. They shuttered Mogadishu's cinemas, demanded that Somali men grow beards and, according to the U.S. State Department, provided refuge to some 30 local and international jihadists associated with Al Qaeda.
But the Islamic Courts Union's turbaned militiamen had actually defeated Somalia's hated warlords. And their enforcement of Islamic religious laws, while unpopular among many Somalis, made Mogadishu safe to walk in for the first time in a generation.
"It's not just that people miss those days," said a Somali humanitarian worker who, for safety reasons, asked to be identified only as Hassan. "They resent the Ethiopians and Americans tearing it all up, using Somalia as their battlefield against global terrorism. It's like the Cold War all over again. Somalis aren't in control."
When the Islamic movement again strengthened, Isse, the terrorist jailed in Berbera, was a pharmacy owner from the isolated town of Buro in Somaliland, a parched northern enclave that declared independence from Somalia in the early 1990s.
Radicalized by U.S. military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, he is serving a life sentence for organizing the killings of four foreign aid workers in late 2003 and early 2004. Two of his victims were elderly British teachers.
A dour, bearded man with bullet scars puckering his neck and leg, Isse still maintains his innocence. Much of Isse's account of his capture and imprisonment was independently corroborated by Western intelligence analysts, Somali security officials and court records in Somaliland, where the wounded jihadist was tried and jailed for murdering the aid workers. Those sources say Isse was snatched by the U.S. after fleeing to the safe house of a notorious Islamist militant in Mogadishu.
How that operation unfolded on a hot June night in 2004 reveals the extent of American clandestine involvement in Somalia's chaotic affairs—and how such anti-terrorism efforts appear to have backfired.
Interrogation aboard ship
"I captured Isse for the Americans," said Mohamed Afrah Qanyare. "The Americans contracted us to do certain things, and we did them. Isse put up resistance so we shot him. But he survived."
A scar-faced warlord in a business suit, Qanyare is a member of Somalia's weak transitional government. Today he divides his days between lawless Mogadishu and luxury hotels in Nairobi.
But four years ago, his militia helped form the kernel of a CIA-created mercenary force called the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism in Somalia. The unit cobbled together some of the world's most violent, wily and unreliable clan militias—including gangs that had attacked U.S. forces in the early 1990s—to confront a rising tide of Islamic militancy in Somalia's anarchic capital.
The Somalis on the CIA payroll engaged in a grim tit-for-tat exchange of kidnappings and assassinations with extremists. And Isse was one of their catches.
He was wounded in a CIA-ordered raid on his Mogadishu safe house in June 2004, according to Qanyare and Matt Bryden, one of the world's leading scholars of the Somali insurgency who has access to intelligence regarding it. They say Isse was then loaded aboard a U.S. military helicopter summoned by satellite phone and was flown, bleeding, to an offshore U.S. vessel.
"He saw white people in uniforms working on his body," said Isse's Somali defense lawyer, Bashir Hussein Abdi, describing how Isse was rushed into a ship-board operating room. "He felt the ship moving. He thought he was dreaming."
Navy doctors spliced a steel rod into Isse's bullet-shattered leg, according to Abdi. Every day for about a month afterward, Isse's court depositions assert, plainclothes U.S. agents grilled the bedridden Somali at sea about Al Qaeda's presence.
The CIA never has publicly acknowledged its operations in Somalia. Agency spokesman George Little declined to comment on Isse's case.
For years, human-rights organizations attempted to expose the rumored detention and interrogation of terror suspects aboard U.S. warships to avoid media and legal scrutiny. In June, the British civil rights group Reprieve contended that as many as 17 U.S. warships may have doubled as "floating prisons" since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Calling such claims "misleading," the Pentagon has insisted that U.S. ships have served only as transit stops for terror suspects being shuttled to permanent detention camps such as the one in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
But Tribune reporting on Isse indicates strongly that a U.S. warship was used for interrogation at least once off the lawless coast of Somalia.
The U.S. Navy conceded Isse had stayed aboard one of its vessels. In a terse statement, Lt. Nathan Christensen, a spokesman for the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet that patrols the Gulf of Aden, said only that the Navy was "not able to confirm dates" of Isse's imprisonment.
For reasons that remain unclear, he was later flown to Camp Lemonier, a U.S. military base in the African state of Djibouti, Somali intelligence sources say, and from there to a clandestine prison in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Isse and his lawyer allege he was detained there for six weeks and tortured by Ethiopian military intelligence with electric shocks.
Ethiopia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and office of prime minister did not respond to queries about Isse's allegations.
However, security officials in neighboring Somaliland did confirm that they collected Isse from the Ethiopian police at a dusty border crossing in late 2004. "The Man with the American Thing in His Leg" was interrogated again. After a local trial, he was locked in the ancient Berbera prison.
"It doesn't matter if he is guilty or innocent," said Abdi, the defense lawyer. "Countries like Ethiopia and America use terrorism to justify this treatment. This is not justice. It is a crime in itself."
Tales of CIA "snatch and grab" operations against terror suspects abroad aren't new, of course. President George W. Bush finally confirmed two years ago the existence of an international program that "renditioned" terrorism suspects to a network of "black site" prisons in Eastern Europe, Iraq and Afghanistan.
As for the CIA's anti-terror mercenaries in Mogadishu, they may have kidnapped a dozen or more wanted Islamists for the Americans, intelligence experts say. But their excesses ended up swelling the ranks of their enemy, the Islamic Courts Union militias.
"It was a stupid idea," said Bryden, the security analyst who has written extensively on Somalia's Islamist insurgency. "It actually strengthened the hand of the Islamists and helped trigger the crisis we're in today."
In the sweltering Berbera prison, Exhibit A in Washington's phantom war in Somalia had finished his afternoon prayers. He clapped his sandals together, then limped off to his cell without a word.
A sinking nation
The future of Somalia and its 8 million people is totally unscripted. This unbearable lack of certainty, of a way forward, accommodates little hope.
Ethiopian and U.S. actions have eroded Somalis' hidebound allegiance to their clans, once a firewall against Al Qaeda's global ideology, says Bryden. Somalia's 2 million-strong diaspora is of greatest concern. Angry young men, foreign passports in hand, could be lured back to the reopened Shabab training camps, where instructors occasionally use photocopied portraits of Bush as rifle targets.
Some envision no Somalia at all.
With about $8 billion in humanitarian aid fire-hosed into the smoking ruins of Somalia since the early 1990s—the U.S. will donate roughly $200 million this year alone—a growing chorus of policymakers is advocating that the failed state be allowed to fail, to break up into autonomous zones or fiefdoms, such as Isse's home of Somaliland.
But there is another possible future for Somalia. To see it, you must go to Bosaso, a port 300 miles east of Isse's cell.
Bosaso is an escape hatch from Somalia. Thousands of people swarm through the town's scruffy waterfront every year, seeking passage across the Gulf of Aden to the Middle East. Dressed in rags, they sleep by the hundreds in dirt alleys and empty lots. Stranded women and girls are forced into prostitution.
"You can see why we still need America's help," said Abdinur Jama, the coast guard commander for Puntland, the semiautonomous state encompassing Bosaso. "We need training and equipment to stop this."
Dapper in camouflage and a Yankees cap, Jama was a rarity in Somalia, an optimist. While Bosaso's teenagers shook their fists at high-flying U.S. jets on routine patrols—"Go to hell!" they chanted—Jama still spoke well of international engagement in Somalia.
On a morning when he offered to take visitors on a coast patrol, it did not seem kind to tell him what a U.S. military think tank at West Point had concluded about Somalia last year: that, in some respects, failed states were admirable places to combat Al Qaeda, because the absence of local sovereignty permitted "relatively unrestricted Western counterterrorism efforts."
After all, Jama's decrepit patrol boat was sinking.
A crew member scrambled to stanch a yard-high geyser of seawater that spurted through the cracked hull. Jama screwed his cap on tighter and peered professionally at land that, despite Washington's best-laid plans, has turned far more desperate than Afghanistan.
"Can you swim?" Jama asked. But it hardly seemed to matter. Back on dry land, in Somalia, an entire country was drowning.
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Somali Pirates Strike Again - The Times
Somali Pirates Hijack Yemen Ship - Daily Telegraph
Pirates Holding Saudi Tanker Dismiss Islamist Threats - Voice of America
Shippers Want Naval Blockade of Somali Coast - Associated Press
Somali Pirates Say Tanker Ransom Unchanged - Agence France-Presse
Pirate Says Sirius Star Crew Safe - BBC News
Indian Crew of Hijacked Ship Recalls 'Nightmare' Experience - Voice of America
Why Don't We Hang Pirates Anymore? - Wall Street Journal opinion
The Price of Piracy - Wall Street Journal opinion
Somali Pirates Hijack Yemen Ship - Daily Telegraph
Pirates Holding Saudi Tanker Dismiss Islamist Threats - Voice of America
Shippers Want Naval Blockade of Somali Coast - Associated Press
Somali Pirates Say Tanker Ransom Unchanged - Agence France-Presse
Pirate Says Sirius Star Crew Safe - BBC News
Indian Crew of Hijacked Ship Recalls 'Nightmare' Experience - Voice of America
Why Don't We Hang Pirates Anymore? - Wall Street Journal opinion
The Price of Piracy - Wall Street Journal opinion
TIME 11/25/08
Battling the Somali Pirates: The Return of the Islamists
Tony Karon
T.E. Lawrence ("of Arabia") famously compared counterinsurgency warfare to "eating soup with a knife". The same might apply to the efforts of Western navies to protect commercial shipping from the marauding pirates of Somalia, except for the fact that soup is typically contained within a bowl — and the pirates have the freedom of a vast ocean in which to move. They recently captured a Saudi supertanker carrying $100 million in crude oil, by striking hundreds of miles away from the shipping lanes being patrolled by some of the world's most powerful navies. But if the pirates have the wind at their backs out at sea, they got some bad news back on shore last weekend, when five armored vehicles loaded with fighters of the Islamist Shabab militia arrived in the port town of Harardhere, where the pirates who seized the Sirius Star are based.
The Islamic Courts Union, which had controlled Mogadishu until it was ousted in a U.S.-backed Ethiopian invasion in 2006, denounced the seizure of the Saudi vessel as a "major crime," and its erstwhile affiliate, the more militant Shabab movement, was even more forthright. "Saudi is a Muslim country and it is very big crime to hold Muslim property," Sheikh Abdulaahi Osman, a commander of the group in Harardhere, told the Bloomberg news service on Sunday. "I warned again and again, those who hold the ship must free it unconditionally or armed conflict should be the solution. If they don't free the ship, we will rescue it by force." (See pictures of Somalia's pirates.)
Some locals believed the Islamists had come to confront the pirates; others speculated that the Shabab may simply be seeking a share in the booty. The pirates didn't wait around to find out, reportedly high-tailing it out of town and onto the high seas to avoid an encounter with the Shabab. While the presence of NATO and allied navies on the high seas has failed to stamp out piracy, the emergence of an authority more powerful than the buccaneers themselves in their on-shore sanctuaries could clearly be a game-changer.
Piracy has thrived along the Somali coastline not because commercial shipping is poorly defended, but because Somalia is a failed state where anarchy has prevailed for most of the past two decades. The Transitional Government currently backed by the U.S. is a loose coalition of rival clan warlords fighting among themselves, and whose authority is tenuous. Mogadishu and southern Somalia were a little more stable during the brief reign in 2006 of the Islamic Courts Union, whose militia fighters drove out the warlords and imposed a peace generally welcomed by the local population even if they chafed under the resultant sharia law. And the Islamists cracked down on piracy in areas under their control, including Harardheere.
The Islamists, however, were giving shelter to a handful of al-Qaeda operatives wanted in connection with terror attacks in East Africa, so the U.S. threw its weight behind the beleaguered Transitional Government and helped direct an Ethiopian invasion aimed at dislodging the Islamists. Although the invasion scattered the Islamists, the Transitional Government remains deeply unpopular and unable to cement its control. The government's security is largely dependent on an Ethiopian occupation that is itself growing weary of the cost of fighting the resurgent Islamists, led by the radicalized Shabab movement. The government and its allies arguably control only two Somali cities. It is now involved in U.N.-brokered power-sharing talks with more moderate elements among the Islamists.
But the clock cannot be turned back to 2006 when the more cohesive Islamist authority in Mogadishu had some success in stamping out piracy. Some analysts suggest that the Shabab have themselves lately made use of pirate groups to ferry weapons and train their fighters in naval combat, in exchange for protection. There is no solid evidence to back this claim, however, and other analysts insist that the Islamists remain the best bet for policing piracy. (It is also alleged that some pirate groups are in league with warlords who form part of the transitional government.) But both the Islamists and the Transitional Government are riven by internal power struggles, further complicating the task of forging a law-and-order consensus necessary to combat the pirates. (See pictures of the brazen pirates of Somalia.)
Establishing order on shore, however, remains the key to stamping out the problem, for the simple reason that keeping a dozen or more vessels from the navies of the U.S. and its allies engaged in escort missions for all commercial shipping in the area is too costly to sustain over the long term. As long as the pirates remain unmolested on shore and flush with cash —Kenya last week suggested the pirates have extorted as much as $150 million over the past year in ransom payments — they will find ways around the protection offered by sophisticated warships.
By moving into Harardhere, the Islamists are signaling an intent to reassert control over the coastline. They recently took control of the key southern port city of Kismayo. That could help tamp down the incidence of piracy — although only if the Shabab are committed to doing that, rather than seeking to profit from the lucrative industry. In that way, it can be compared to the Taliban in Afghanistan that stamped out opium production when it was in power and seeking international recognition. Today, as it wages an insurgency, the Taliban sustains itself by taxing the poppy trade. The key players in Somalia are likely to police piracy only when the political and economic incentives for doing so outweigh the gains to be made from encouraging and taxing it.
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Battling the Somali Pirates: The Return of the Islamists
Tony Karon
T.E. Lawrence ("of Arabia") famously compared counterinsurgency warfare to "eating soup with a knife". The same might apply to the efforts of Western navies to protect commercial shipping from the marauding pirates of Somalia, except for the fact that soup is typically contained within a bowl — and the pirates have the freedom of a vast ocean in which to move. They recently captured a Saudi supertanker carrying $100 million in crude oil, by striking hundreds of miles away from the shipping lanes being patrolled by some of the world's most powerful navies. But if the pirates have the wind at their backs out at sea, they got some bad news back on shore last weekend, when five armored vehicles loaded with fighters of the Islamist Shabab militia arrived in the port town of Harardhere, where the pirates who seized the Sirius Star are based.
The Islamic Courts Union, which had controlled Mogadishu until it was ousted in a U.S.-backed Ethiopian invasion in 2006, denounced the seizure of the Saudi vessel as a "major crime," and its erstwhile affiliate, the more militant Shabab movement, was even more forthright. "Saudi is a Muslim country and it is very big crime to hold Muslim property," Sheikh Abdulaahi Osman, a commander of the group in Harardhere, told the Bloomberg news service on Sunday. "I warned again and again, those who hold the ship must free it unconditionally or armed conflict should be the solution. If they don't free the ship, we will rescue it by force." (See pictures of Somalia's pirates.)
Some locals believed the Islamists had come to confront the pirates; others speculated that the Shabab may simply be seeking a share in the booty. The pirates didn't wait around to find out, reportedly high-tailing it out of town and onto the high seas to avoid an encounter with the Shabab. While the presence of NATO and allied navies on the high seas has failed to stamp out piracy, the emergence of an authority more powerful than the buccaneers themselves in their on-shore sanctuaries could clearly be a game-changer.
Piracy has thrived along the Somali coastline not because commercial shipping is poorly defended, but because Somalia is a failed state where anarchy has prevailed for most of the past two decades. The Transitional Government currently backed by the U.S. is a loose coalition of rival clan warlords fighting among themselves, and whose authority is tenuous. Mogadishu and southern Somalia were a little more stable during the brief reign in 2006 of the Islamic Courts Union, whose militia fighters drove out the warlords and imposed a peace generally welcomed by the local population even if they chafed under the resultant sharia law. And the Islamists cracked down on piracy in areas under their control, including Harardheere.
The Islamists, however, were giving shelter to a handful of al-Qaeda operatives wanted in connection with terror attacks in East Africa, so the U.S. threw its weight behind the beleaguered Transitional Government and helped direct an Ethiopian invasion aimed at dislodging the Islamists. Although the invasion scattered the Islamists, the Transitional Government remains deeply unpopular and unable to cement its control. The government's security is largely dependent on an Ethiopian occupation that is itself growing weary of the cost of fighting the resurgent Islamists, led by the radicalized Shabab movement. The government and its allies arguably control only two Somali cities. It is now involved in U.N.-brokered power-sharing talks with more moderate elements among the Islamists.
But the clock cannot be turned back to 2006 when the more cohesive Islamist authority in Mogadishu had some success in stamping out piracy. Some analysts suggest that the Shabab have themselves lately made use of pirate groups to ferry weapons and train their fighters in naval combat, in exchange for protection. There is no solid evidence to back this claim, however, and other analysts insist that the Islamists remain the best bet for policing piracy. (It is also alleged that some pirate groups are in league with warlords who form part of the transitional government.) But both the Islamists and the Transitional Government are riven by internal power struggles, further complicating the task of forging a law-and-order consensus necessary to combat the pirates. (See pictures of the brazen pirates of Somalia.)
Establishing order on shore, however, remains the key to stamping out the problem, for the simple reason that keeping a dozen or more vessels from the navies of the U.S. and its allies engaged in escort missions for all commercial shipping in the area is too costly to sustain over the long term. As long as the pirates remain unmolested on shore and flush with cash —Kenya last week suggested the pirates have extorted as much as $150 million over the past year in ransom payments — they will find ways around the protection offered by sophisticated warships.
By moving into Harardhere, the Islamists are signaling an intent to reassert control over the coastline. They recently took control of the key southern port city of Kismayo. That could help tamp down the incidence of piracy — although only if the Shabab are committed to doing that, rather than seeking to profit from the lucrative industry. In that way, it can be compared to the Taliban in Afghanistan that stamped out opium production when it was in power and seeking international recognition. Today, as it wages an insurgency, the Taliban sustains itself by taxing the poppy trade. The key players in Somalia are likely to police piracy only when the political and economic incentives for doing so outweigh the gains to be made from encouraging and taxing it.
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Piracy
Somali Pirates Hijack Another Ship, Drop Ransom for Saudi Tanker - VOA
Pirate 'Mothership' Was Only a Fishing Boat - The Times
Countering Piracy - Washington Times opinion
Somali Pirates Hijack Another Ship, Drop Ransom for Saudi Tanker - VOA
Pirate 'Mothership' Was Only a Fishing Boat - The Times
Countering Piracy - Washington Times opinion
Piracy
1,400 German Troops to Fight Pirates? - United Press International
Four Pirates Killed in Sierra Leone Navy Gunbattle - Agence France-Presse
1,400 German Troops to Fight Pirates? - United Press International
Four Pirates Killed in Sierra Leone Navy Gunbattle - Agence France-Presse
Legal Hurdles in West Slow Pursuit of Pirates - New York Times
British and Irish Anti-piracy Experts Rescued, After Pirates Attack - The Times
Crew Escapes Somali Pirates - Daily Telegraph
Four Pirates Killed in Sierra Leone Navy Gunbattle - Agence France-Presse
The Pirates of Puntland - Washington Times opinion
British and Irish Anti-piracy Experts Rescued, After Pirates Attack - The Times
Crew Escapes Somali Pirates - Daily Telegraph
Four Pirates Killed in Sierra Leone Navy Gunbattle - Agence France-Presse
The Pirates of Puntland - Washington Times opinion
A Wicked Brew
Piracy and Islamism in the Horn of Africa
by Tim Sullivan, Small Wars Journal Op-Ed
A Wicked Brew (Full PDF Article)
The recent surge in pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia has again revealed the vulnerability of U.S. and allied interests to transnational, unconventional security threats—and demonstrated just how confounded we remain in determining the appropriate responses to these challenges. Somali piracy has now become more than simply a nuisance: the explosion in attacks has the potential to disrupt international trade (at least one major international shipping firm has announced plans to shift its transit routes), and further destabilize the volatile Horn of Africa region. The audacity of recent hijackings, combined with an uncoordinated and anemic international response, portends a growing threat. In reaction to the news that the pirates had seized the Sirius Star, a Saudi supertanker, 450 miles southeast of Mombasa, Kenya, Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, echoed the sentiments of many analysts and observers when he said that he was “stunned” by the Somali pirates’ range of operations.
A more disturbing element of the Somali piracy phenomenon is the apparent connection between the pirates and the country’s militant Islamist movement. Though it hasn’t been making the front pages, Somalia is in the throes of a protracted insurgency. The country’s primary Islamist militant group, al-Shabaab, was recently added to the State Department’s list of terrorist organizations affiliated with Al-Qaeda. The group has emerged as the successor (and was the former militia) of Somalia’s Islamic Courts Union (ICU), which in the summer of 2006 came close to unseating the country’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG); the ICU was eventually defeated by the TFG with the help of the Ethiopian military.
A Wicked Brew (Full PDF Article)
Piracy and Islamism in the Horn of Africa
by Tim Sullivan, Small Wars Journal Op-Ed
A Wicked Brew (Full PDF Article)
The recent surge in pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia has again revealed the vulnerability of U.S. and allied interests to transnational, unconventional security threats—and demonstrated just how confounded we remain in determining the appropriate responses to these challenges. Somali piracy has now become more than simply a nuisance: the explosion in attacks has the potential to disrupt international trade (at least one major international shipping firm has announced plans to shift its transit routes), and further destabilize the volatile Horn of Africa region. The audacity of recent hijackings, combined with an uncoordinated and anemic international response, portends a growing threat. In reaction to the news that the pirates had seized the Sirius Star, a Saudi supertanker, 450 miles southeast of Mombasa, Kenya, Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, echoed the sentiments of many analysts and observers when he said that he was “stunned” by the Somali pirates’ range of operations.
A more disturbing element of the Somali piracy phenomenon is the apparent connection between the pirates and the country’s militant Islamist movement. Though it hasn’t been making the front pages, Somalia is in the throes of a protracted insurgency. The country’s primary Islamist militant group, al-Shabaab, was recently added to the State Department’s list of terrorist organizations affiliated with Al-Qaeda. The group has emerged as the successor (and was the former militia) of Somalia’s Islamic Courts Union (ICU), which in the summer of 2006 came close to unseating the country’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG); the ICU was eventually defeated by the TFG with the help of the Ethiopian military.
A Wicked Brew (Full PDF Article)
Ransom Deal Has Reached for Pirated Ukrainian Freighter - New York Times
Pirates 'to Release Ukraine Ship' - BBC News
To the Shores of Tripoli... Weekly Standard opinion
Pirates 'to Release Ukraine Ship' - BBC News
To the Shores of Tripoli... Weekly Standard opinion
UN Security Council Extends Anti-Piracy Measures off Somali Coast - VOA
Blackwater Plans Effort Against Piracy - Wall Street Journal
US Cruise Ship Outruns Hijackers - Associated Press
Blackwater Plans Effort Against Piracy - Wall Street Journal
US Cruise Ship Outruns Hijackers - Associated Press
Piracy
Blackwater Joins Fight Against Sea Piracy - Washington Times
Fighting Pirates - Washington Post opinion
Blackwater Joins Fight Against Sea Piracy - Washington Times
Fighting Pirates - Washington Post opinion
Piracy
EU to Begin Somali Pirate Patrols - BBC News
Somalia's Piracy Problem is Everyone's Problem - CS Monitor opinion
EU to Begin Somali Pirate Patrols - BBC News
Somalia's Piracy Problem is Everyone's Problem - CS Monitor opinion
Array of Strategies Are Tried to Turn Back Pirates at Sea - New York Times
Pirate Attacks Keep Law Firm Buzzing - Wall Street Journal
Pirates 'Put Down Hostage Revolt' - BBC News
Pirate Attacks Keep Law Firm Buzzing - Wall Street Journal
Pirates 'Put Down Hostage Revolt' - BBC News
PIRACY
US Proposes Going Ashore to Hunt Pirates - Neilo MacFarquhar, New York Times
US Proposes Going Ashore to Hunt Pirates - Neilo MacFarquhar, New York Times
In an effort to curb piracy off Somalia’s coast, the United States began circulating a Security Council resolution on Wednesday that would significantly beef up interdiction efforts by permitting foreign forces to attack pirate bases on land.
Until now all military action has been focused on naval measures, so the proposal to carry the fight ashore is an escalation opposed by some countries skittish about sovereignty issues. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected at the Security Council early next week to engage other foreign ministers from member states on piracy, among other matters.
The United States envoy Alejandro D. Wolff said that given the threat the pirates pose to international navigation and to the government of Somalia, “We will leave no stone unturned in dealing with this issue.” Any military action on land would be undertaken with the agreement of Somalia’s government, he said.More at The New York Times.
Piracy
US Gets Tough on Somali Pirates - BBC News
Somali Pirates Get Help from Expats in Canada - Toronto Star
Cruise Passengers Abandon Ship to Avoid Pirates - The Times
US Gets Tough on Somali Pirates - BBC News
Somali Pirates Get Help from Expats in Canada - Toronto Star
Cruise Passengers Abandon Ship to Avoid Pirates - The Times
Piracy
Pentagon Official Urges Broad Approach to Piracy - AFPS
Admiral Skeptical as US Seeks to Pursue Pirates onto Land - Voice of America
Pentagon Official Urges Broad Approach to Piracy - AFPS
Admiral Skeptical as US Seeks to Pursue Pirates onto Land - Voice of America
PIRACY
Pirates in Skiffs Still Outmaneuvering Warships Off Somalia - Jeffrey Gettleman, New York Times
Pirates in Skiffs Still Outmaneuvering Warships Off Somalia - Jeffrey Gettleman, New York Times
More than a dozen warships from Italy, Greece, Turkey, India, Denmark, Saudi Arabia, France, Russia, Britain, Malaysia and the United States have joined the hunt.
And yet, in the past two months alone, the pirates have attacked more than 30 vessels, eluding the naval patrols, going farther out to sea and seeking bigger, more lucrative game, including an American cruise ship and a 1,000-foot Saudi oil tanker.
The pirates are recalibrating their tactics, attacking ships in beelike swarms of 20 to 30 skiffs, and threatening to choke off one of the busiest shipping arteries in the world, at the mouth of the Red Sea.More at The New York Times.
Should Ground Troops Hunt Pirates in Somalia? - Shashank Bengali, McClatchy Newspapers (Christian Science Monitor)
A Bush administration proposal to allow foreign forces to go ashore in Somalia to hunt the country's notorious pirates is getting a cool reception from US military leaders, regional analysts, and some Somali officials.
The proposal – which Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to put forward Tuesday at the United Nations Security Council – is the boldest yet aimed at stopping the pirates, who've hijacked 55 ships this year, secured tens of millions of dollars in ransoms, and kneecapped maritime trade between Europe and Asia.
Somalia's long East African coastline is a lawless stretch of empty beaches and mountain hollows, and experts think that foreign forces lack the military intelligence to carry out well-targeted land attacks. They warn that civilian casualties would stoke anti-Western sentiment in the overwhelmingly Muslim nation, where powerful Islamist militias are threatening to topple an internationally backed – but desperately weak – interim government.
It's unlikely that American forces would be involved, given the lingering memories of 1993, when a US Black Hawk helicopter was shot down over the Somali capital of Mogadishu, resulting in the deaths of 18 servicemen. The current struggles of a small African Union peacekeeping mission also raise doubts that any country would be willing to send ground forces into Somalia.
UN Authorizes Land, Air Attacks on Somali Pirates - Colum Lynch, Washington Post
The UN Security Council voted unanimously Tuesday to authorize nations to conduct military raids, on land and by air, against pirates plying the waters off the Somalia coast even as two more ships were reportedly hijacked at sea.
The vote represented a major escalation by the world's big powers in the fight against the pirates, who have disrupted commerce along one of the world's most active sea routes and acquired tens of millions of dollars in ransom. It came as China -- which has had several ships commandeered in recent months -- said it is seriously considering joining US, European and Russian warships policing the region.
The US-drafted resolution authorizes nations to "use all necessary measures that are appropriate in Somalia" in pursuit of pirates, as long as they are approved by the country's transitional federal government. The resolution also urges states to deploy naval vessels and military aircraft to carry out the operations, and it calls for the creation of a regional office to coordinate the international effort.More at The Washington Post, Associated Press and Voice of America.
Piracy
Defense Department Welcomes UN Resolution Aimed at Pirates - AFPS
US Commandos may Hunt Down Somali Pirates - The Times
Chinese Navy Might Get Role in Piracy Fight - Wall Street Journal
China to Aid in Fighting Somali Pirates - Washington Post
Chinese Navy to Take on Somali Pirates - Daily Telegraph
Pursuit of Somali Pirates to Get Hotter - Christian Science Monitor
Anti-piracy Force Thwarts Attack on Ship - Washington Times
Defense Department Welcomes UN Resolution Aimed at Pirates - AFPS
US Commandos may Hunt Down Somali Pirates - The Times
Chinese Navy Might Get Role in Piracy Fight - Wall Street Journal
China to Aid in Fighting Somali Pirates - Washington Post
Chinese Navy to Take on Somali Pirates - Daily Telegraph
Pursuit of Somali Pirates to Get Hotter - Christian Science Monitor
Anti-piracy Force Thwarts Attack on Ship - Washington Times
Piracy
China Confirms Naval Role in Gulf of Aden - New York Times
Chinese Ships Will Fight Pirates - BBC News
US Welcomes Chinese Plans to Fight Piracy, Admiral Says - AFPS
Chinese Crew Used Beer Bottles to Fight Off Pirates - The Times
China Confirms Naval Role in Gulf of Aden - New York Times
Chinese Ships Will Fight Pirates - BBC News
US Welcomes Chinese Plans to Fight Piracy, Admiral Says - AFPS
Chinese Crew Used Beer Bottles to Fight Off Pirates - The Times
Piracy
Somali Pirates Risk All for Riches, Women - Christian Science Monitor
Chinese Use Molotov Cocktails to Fight Off Somali Pirates - Daily Telegraph
Somali Pirates Risk All for Riches, Women - Christian Science Monitor
Chinese Use Molotov Cocktails to Fight Off Somali Pirates - Daily Telegraph
Piracy
Chinese Warships Sail, Loaded for Pirates - New York Times
China Launches Anti-Piracy Mission - Voice of America
Beijing Sends the Navy Out to Attack Pirates - The Times
China's Historic Naval Mission to Somalia Begins - Daily Telegraph
Chinese Warships Embark on Antipiracy Mission - Associated Press
Chinese Warships Sail, Loaded for Pirates - New York Times
China Launches Anti-Piracy Mission - Voice of America
Beijing Sends the Navy Out to Attack Pirates - The Times
China's Historic Naval Mission to Somalia Begins - Daily Telegraph
Chinese Warships Embark on Antipiracy Mission - Associated Press
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