Treasure and poverty

  The world community needs to solve the Somalia problem

Mehman Mirzayev
Baku

At the threshold of the 21st century, the world faces a problem which was long thought to have been consigned to the past, relegated to the archives of history. Robbery at sea is now in fashion again, but this time on the shores of Africa. Although the pirates use quite an impressive arsenal of modern weapons, they remind us all of the fate of the destitute - an evil aspect, not only of the romantic Middle Ages, but also of our hi-tech era.



Pirates of the Horn of Africa



In recent months, Somali pirates have gone on the rampage in the Gulf of Aden, which is one of the busiest routes for international commercial vessels (a strategic maritime route through the Suez Canal passes the shores of Somalia). Attacks on foreign vessels in the waters of the Horn of Africa, a region of geopolitical importance, are reported almost every day.



While only 110 pirate attacks were reported between 1995 and 2002, in 2008 alone there were more than 120. Since the beginning of this year, pirates have attacked more than 80 vessels, of which they still hold at least 14. According to the International Maritime Bureau, more than 200 hostages are in the hands of Somali pirates.



The situation is getting worse, because the bandits use the ransom money to buy modern weapons and vessels. Last year alone, they managed to amass 150 million dollars in ransoms, which allowed them to buy more up-to-date equipment for seizing large commercial vessels.



It has been notable recently that attacks are occurring farther and farther from the shores of Somalia. For example, the Greek tanker Nipayia was captured 400 km offshore, while Norways’s Bow Asir – 720 km. These audacious attacks are making the world community think seriously about the security of maritime routes, along which one third of the world’s oil is transported.



A naval coalition of 16 countries, including the European Union, NATO and Russia, has been engaged upon an anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden. The NATO operation against the Somali pirates who attacked the Norwegian tanker Front Ardenne can also be regarded as quite successful. However, the bandits detained by the Canadian battleship Winnipeg were released since, under Canadian law, it is impossible to hold them to account because they had not attacked Canadian citizens and had not committed a crime on Canadian territory. For the same reason, the Dutch military had to release seven pirates captured after the liberation of 20 hostages from the Greek tanker Handytankers Magic.



Meanwhile, the main problem for the anti-piracy campaign is not legal bureaucracy. The coast of Somalia runs for1,500 miles and pirates are particularly active in a 400 mile stretch - it is difficult to catch the fast cutters they use here. It will only be possible to finish off these modern buccaneers if the whole Somali coastline is placed under strict surveillance. However, after the defeat of the American special Delta force in Somalia in 1993, not a single state in the world wants to sacrifice the lives of its soldiers in the Horn of Africa. In any case, it is possible that the United States will try to take revenge for their defeat of 16 years ago.



The White House against Jolly Roger



Washington took the problem of piracy in the Gulf of Aden more seriously after two US freight vessels were attacked off the Somali coast recently. The pirates’ botched attempt to seize the Maersk Alabama container ship had special repercussions. As a result, they captured US navy captain, Richard Phillips. The Americans soon liberated their officer in a special operation, during which the pirates came under direct fire.



Immediately following this incident, the US administration expressed its readiness to fight the pirates. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton presented a detailed plan of action for the Gulf of Aden, pointing out that “although we are dealing with a 17th century crime, we have to combat it with 21st century methods”. The plan is comprises four points, in which the White House suggests expanding international efforts to ensure the security of navigation, freezing the pirates’ financial assets, enhancing the rules of self-defence in navigation and improving the situation in Somalia.



Washington’s intention to monitor pirates’ cash flows and to freeze their assets immediately raised questions. The ransom for a vessel seized by the pirates is usually paid in cash, and the money is immediately dispersed throughout Somalia in small sums. However, the US intention to “improve the situation in Somalia” caused much greater interest. Many see this as preparation for a US invasion of the African country.



The American media reported that the US administration is actually considering carrying out ground operations against the pirates. This seems quite realistic because, on this issue, the White House is likely to be backed by Congress, commercial shipping, the media and, most importantly, the US public. However, there are forces in the US political establishment trying to hold Washington back from taking a step that may cause many casualties among both Somalis and Americans. To all appearances, one of them is US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates, who takes a sceptical view of the prospect of US paratroopers landing in Somalia. So, if the US military operation is fated to happen, it will probably be restricted to air strikes by missile-carrying drones.



These putative air strikes, however, may be quite risky since the pirates, who are not really any different from ordinary sailors and fishermen in everyday life, may use children, women and old people as shields. Thus it is difficult to imagine that Barack Obama, who has set himself the task of improving the US image in the international arena, will sanction an operation that may lead to numerous casualties among the civilian population of a distant African country.



Whatever it is, Washington submitted its anti-piracy plan to an international conference in Brussels on providing assistance to Somalia. However, the same forum repeatedly said what has probably been quite obvious to the whole world community since the very beginning of this modern corsair epic. Of course, it is quite possible to reduce the activity of the pirates by the use of purely punitive measures; however, these actions will not totally root out piracy in Somali waters. This can be only achieved by stabilization of the situation in Somalia, since the true causes of piracy here are poverty, chaos and anarchy.



For this reason, participants in the Brussels conference agreed to allocate 213 million dollars to Somalia, not only to fight piracy, but also to restore law and order in the African country.



The disaster coast



The civil war which began in Somalia in the 1980s split the country into numerous territories in which real power belongs to field commanders and tribal leaders who are hostile to each other. Decades of hostilities and anarchy have almost totally destroyed the Somali economy, while the population is suffering from famine. Terrible poverty is the main incentive for the development of Somali piracy, which has been flourishing as the only lucrative business in this country in the recent period. If we take into account the fact that, according to international rules, commercial vessels are not allowed to carry weapons, it is no surprise that pirate bases have gradually appeared in a large and poor zone of instability, with a population which has been fighting for 20 years.



Prospects for the stabilization of the situation in Somalia appeared when a moderate Islamist, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, was elected president at the end of January. However, radical groups refused to cooperate with the internationally-recognized government, accusing the president of conspiring with the USA, while the terrorist Al-Qaeda, which exerts a strong influence here, declared a jihad against him. Apparently, one of the reasons for this was the decision of the Somali government to take military action against piracy. According to Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, the central government has managed to identify most of the pirate ringleaders and is ready to share this information with other countries, including the United States. The official Somali authorities have already submitted a plan to combat piracy to emissaries from the EU and the USA and suggested setting up appropriate armed forces and posts along the coast in order to monitor and collect information.



In mid-April, the Somali parliament approved the introduction of Muslim Shari’ah law to the country, hoping that this would help fight extremists and pirates. However, it is too early to talk of real success in this direction. Military clashes are a constant occurrence between rebel formations which control most of the southern and central regions of the country except for the Somali capital Mogadishu, and government forces and the peacekeeping mission of the African Union. The USA and the West see the main danger in the endless Somali chaos as being the possibility of the country turning into a second Afghanistan, especially as the prospect of a Taleban-like movement, with close links to Al-Qaeda, coming to power in Somalia seems quite realistic.



This is another important factor prompting the USA to carry out a military operation in Somalia in the near future. Moreover, there is a belief that the flourishing of piracy is of benefit to Washington because it could provide a smokescreen for the Americans’ real purpose – not to allow international terrorism to open a new front against the “free world” on the African continent. Besides this, control over the flow of cargo is a matter of special importance because large amounts of Arab oil are supplied to the Western market via the Suez Canal. What is also important is that Iran uses this route for its trade with Europe, which means that the planned Somali operation will provide another means of pressurising the obstinate Tehran regime.



In any case, it is in the interests of the world community that the geopolitical expediency of any action taken, motivated by the interests of individual states, does not hinder stabilization of the situation in Somalia. Success in this respect may be much more important than the anti-piracy mission, since it will help establish peace in one of Africa’s hottest spots and improve living standards for millions of destitute residents of the continent.



The USA and the West see the main danger in the endless Somali chaos as being the possibility of the country turning into a second Afghanistan, especially as the prospect of a Taleban-like movement, with close links to Al-Qaeda, coming to power in Somalia seems quite realistic.



Large amounts of Arab oil are supplied to the Western market via the Suez Canal. What is also important is that Iran uses this route for its trade with Europe, which means that the planned Somali operation will provide another means of pressurising the obstinate Tehran regime.



While only 110 pirate attacks were reported between 1995 and 2002, in 2008 alone, there were more than 120. Since the beginning of this year, pirates have attacked more than 80 vessels, of which they still hold at least 14.