Friday 10 June 2011

Terror on the Seas Somalia’s Piracy Plague

Modern-day piracy has turned peaceful oceans into dangerous routes for cargo and passenger ships. What is behind the rash of attacks?
somali_pirates_hijacking-apha-110611.jpg Preparations: Somali pirates ready a boat for a hijacking mission in Hobyo, northeastern Somalia (Jan. 4, 2010).
Source: Bertrand Guay/AFP/Getty Images
Perched on the edge of an 18-foot boat, Sahal scans the glistening waters of the Indian Ocean with long-range binoculars. He is the leader of a group of 20 men in a small fleet of three powerboats, armed with AK-47 machine guns, prowling for their next target.
Back home in rural Somalia, his wife and two children wait for him to return home with food and money. Ayanna, Sahal’s spouse, thinks he is fishing. A few years earlier she would have been correct—but not anymore. If she knew her husband’s real occupation, she would be much more anxious and afraid.
Sahal and his crew of bandits are actually fishermen turned pirates. Out of what they call “necessity” and desperation, they have resorted to hijacking, kidnapping and extortion to make a living.
The soft-spoken Somali man does not fit the image of a traditional pirate. He does not wear an eye-patch or carry a sword. Nor does he steal treasure and bury his spoils on exotic tropical islands in the Caribbean. His type of piracy is a sophisticated, ruthless and dangerous global endeavor in which many lives are regularly lost.
Until 1991, Sahal and his friends were honest fishermen. They worked long, hard hours for their incomes and lived honestly. It was, after all, what their fathers and grandfathers did.
From a young age, Sahal would help pull the nets off the fishing boats and carry the morning catch to market for a modest but acceptable price. He earned enough money to afford a humble home, buy clothes, and send his children to school.Contiued

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