Voices from the Field (Feb 09)

Terrorism: Piracy clouds African prospects

By Jairo Jura

	French soldiers arrested eight Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden and handed them over to Somali authorities.

The beleaguered faces of the Ukrainian seamen on the MV Faina, loaded with 33 tanks and other military equipment, captured off the coast of Somalia along the Gulf of Aden, speak volumes as Somali pirates, armed with mortars, grenades and guns, negotiate hefty ransoms with ship companies and governments.

This is not an isolated case. Joland Besana, the 35-year old Philippine chief cook on the Greek vessel MV Centauri, which left Asmara in Eritrea carrying 15,500 metric tonnes of salt in mid-September, and was scheduled to dock in three days at Mombasa, Kenya, went through a 71-day ordeal as a hostage together with 26 crew members. The pirates robbed him of money, mobile phone and a gold ring. Finally, successful negotiations between the ship owners and the pirates paid off and the hostages were released. The amount of the ransom was not disclosed.

“I hope to reach home safely to see my family, especially my little daughter who was born while I was away at sea. May God help me!” He prayed after landing in Mombasa on December 3, 2008.

According to the International Maritime Bureau, Somali pirates control the straits of the Red Sea and operate within the Gulf of Aden as it narrows its way into the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal. This is one of the world’s busiest seaways, with an annual turnover of 20,000 ships, including 6,200 tankers, which transport 18 percent of the oil shipped to the U.S. and Europe.

The presence of NATO warships and other foreign naval ships in the Gulf of Aden is not a deterrent. These ships hesitate to counter-attack the pirates because of possible collateral damage to the victims. By the end of November 2008, hundreds of vessels were attacked and about 90 ships hijacked, with sophisticated armaments, oil, and food among the looted valuables. Piracy raked in between $13 to $30 billion. It is a global business, with Somalia a major staging area for pirates of various origins, who take advantage of the current state of lawlessness in the country.

Who are they?

The Somali pirates behave in ways similar to the 19th-century Chinese pirates during the mid-Qing dynasty. They are shrewd, cunning, mean, young, smart; athletic, sophisticated, daring and dangerous. The Somali Al Shabaabs, Islamic fundamentalists who control large swathes of land in Kismayu, rule through Sharia law and are linked to Osama Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda. They are suspected to be actively running piracy in this area.

The pirates target money, oil, food and weapons. From the end of 2007 to November 4 2008, they took advantage of the fact that the world’s attention was focused on the U.S. presidential campaign to attack World Food Program vessels without encountering resistance, and brazenly engaged in an undeclared war.

Leadership and anarchy

	A German military helicopter rescuing three crewmen of a Liberia-flagged oil tanker who jumped over board after the ship was highjacked by pirates.

Some Somalis engage in piracy as a way out of poverty and wretchedness. Bolstered by a leadership that has encouraged war and anarchy in Somalia for more than 20 years, as well as by poor global mechanisms for coordinating an effective enforcement of international maritime laws, they do not think of the negative consequences their criminal activities have on the Horn of Africa.

This has affected Ethiopia, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania among other countries in the region. Already hit with poor economic growth, due to the unfolding global recession and unfavorable trade relations with developed countries, now they have to face inflated transport costs by re-routing their imports and exports through the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.

For instance, Kenya, which closed its eastern border with Somalia after two Roman Catholic nuns were abducted by Somali militias, is burdened with 300,000 Somali refugees in the Dadaab Refugee Camp, which has a capacity of only 90,000. It also faces soaring prices of essential imported fuel, food and goods, low income earnings and purchasing power, and unemployment. In addition, uncertainty of exports to Europe and Middle East through the Gulf of Aden, reduced tourism due to risks and fear, and high insurance costs impact negatively on the aggregate demand for steep imported commodities.

If piracy along the Gulf of Aden is left uncontrolled, the annual cargo, as well as the human traffic volumes, which more than doubled over the last decade in Kenya, will decline, provoking renewed inflation, currently at 30 percent, while widening the merchandise trade deficit in the current account balance, which stood at $810 million in 2007, according to Kenya Economic Survey 2008.

A recent report released by Kenya-based Regional Centre on Small Arms and Light Weapons, which comprises 12 countries within the Great Lakes and the Horn of Africa, disclosed that developed countries use conflict-prone countries in Africa and elsewhere to dispose of old, redundant weapons. In Somalia, a Rocket Propelled Gun (RPG) can be obtained for $150 to $500, or lower, depending on how desperate the seller is for cash.

The pirates, who induct young men into sea-banditry business, grew up on humanitarian food hand-outs in an environment affected by extreme poverty, in the fragmented triad country of Puntland, Somaliland and the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia. Faced with a bleak future, they turned to crime for a livelihood.

A combined task force of 14 nations has established a 960 km-long safe corridor for merchant ships along the coast lines from Tanzania to their base in Djibouti through Mombasa, but this has not deterred the pirates.

When unsuspecting ships ply the Gulf of Aden, with cargo or passengers, they are intercepted by buccaneers on mother-ships and speedboats, who either fire at the ship under attack to make it stop, or engage in a dramatic chase to outrun and finally capture it. Crew and passengers become captive pawns in the game of negotiating enormous ransoms.

Connections to a global network

The pirates are well connected to high profile Somali politicians, the clan warlords in the coastal village of Haradhere 300 km north of Mogadishu , the community Elders and the global underworld. They have connections as far as Nigeria, Libya, Morocco, Europe, Middle East, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Oman, Yemen, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania to mention but a few.

	A fishing boat passing by a Yemeni coast guard patrol in the Gulf of Aden.

The Egyptian fertilizer-laden Blue Star with 15 crew members and the MV Sirius Star, a Saudi super-tanker loaded with $100 million worth of oil, are among their latest trophies, 830 km off the coast of Kenya. The MV Sirius Star was later released, after US$3 million was parachuted to the pirate ship. The huge ransoms the pirates demand and often obtain are in turn invested in weaponry, villas in the Somali villages of Eyl and Xanrandheere, and laundered in neighboring countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, Yemen, Dubai, Pakistan and Afghanistan, among others.

New strategy

However, a new proactive strategy by the British navy, Malaysian airmen, French warships and others, seems to be bearing fruit. The French recently intercepted and arrested eight Somali pirates. Earlier, Malaysian military helicopters prevented the pirates from capturing an Indian tanker. The British have arrested and handed over to Kenya seven Somali pirates who are now serving jail terms in Mombasa.

With 3,000 Ethiopian troops pulling out of Somalia, time will tell what will become of the rudderless country. Kenya, which has started feeling the pangs of economic recession, has ended the year with a new resolution: to deploy fighter jets, patrol its territorial waters, and shell and sink any pirate boats seen on site.

Recently, 12 East African countries deployed a 7,000-strong standby brigade with the mission to keep peace by responding to conflicts and other crises, such as piracy, in the Eastern Africa region. Its aim is to complement the African Union and the U.N. peace-keeping force. Nevertheless, without a mandate to deal a major blow to the pirates, the brigade is unlikely to dismantle their operations. This happened as the United Nations renewed its approval for the use of force against the pirates off the Somali coast and promoted a concerted effort through its Projects and Services Office (U.N.O.P.S) in Naivasha, Kenya, to reconcile the rival factions competing for supremacy in Somalia.

However, one major group, the Al Shabaabs, which controls a very large part of Somaliland, was ignored. Unless an inclusive participatory approach is applied and socio-economic processes and structures that support the well-being of Somali citizens, and inculcate some order in their political and administrative systems, are put into place, fighting piracy in the Gulf of Aden is unlikely to deliver decisive results.

Jairo Ouma Jura is a media consultant residing in Nairobi, Kenya

 

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