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Every AMISOM Soldier is an Enemy of the Somali Nation

By: Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis

[ Posted On: 2009-05-07 ]

One Burundian soldier of the AMISOM force in Somalia was shot dead. The outright majority of the Somalis can only rejoice when a foreign occupying force – uninvited and unsolicited, unnecessary and undeserved – becomes the target of the Somali liberators and fighters for national independence, pacification, reunification and rehabilitation.

The international community should take this event as a good lesson and avert – even at the very last moment – an escalation of the crisis that will end up in heavy collateral damages for all.

In view of the nefarious, 20-year long, US – UK – French involvement in Somalia, other world powers, notably China, Russia and Brazil should intervene and offer to the world community what the colonial establishments have failed to deliver so far: peace and concord, development and progress in the Horn of Africa region.

The solution of the Horn of Africa predicament has nothing to do either with supporting an unrepresentative and fake president and government appointed by the colonial forces or with demonizing the Somali liberators and national heroes who support diverse political leaders and statesmen like Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, Sheikh Hassan Turki, and Sheikh Mukhtar Robow.

Before calling names and attributing false qualifications to young patriotic fighters who merely desire Somalia’s liberation from the evil colonial embrace, the world community should realize the reason and the logic behind the events, the options, the deeds, and the discourses.

When an entire nation has been obviously targeted by evil forces that bribe those whom they turn against the others, the so-called extremists, whom the same evil forces by political maneuvering radicalized in the first place, no one has the right to name the national heroes of that nation “Islamic extremists”, “hard liners” and the like. Appellations of the sort merely contribute to the evil colonial game that has been played against Somalia ever since the Soviet Union collapsed, and China was assaulted by the colonial powers that failed to instrumentalize Beijing.

It would be essential for China’s national security that a particular contact with Somali leaders of the opposition be established and a cooperation process initiated. A deep understanding of the causes that radicalized sociopolitical leaders like Hassan Dahir Aweys, Hassan Turki, and Mukhtar Robow will help Beijing tremendously in formulating possible solutions and eliminating the US – UK – French plans that provide for Somalia’s multifaceted, definite, and irrevocable destruction.

Failure to assess the real role of the present puppet TFG president and government – who, blind in their criminal desire for power, imagine they can help their country, while working with Somalia’s most convinced exterminators – will result in dramatic failure for Beijing and China’s dreams for global prevalence, at a moment America’s collapse is just at the corner and Europe has not yet risen to power.

In this article, I republish integrally the 29th Ecoterra press release that makes available the latest news and a wide array of comments, analyses and republications.

Ecoterra Intl. – SMCM (Somali Marine & Coastal Monitor) - XXIX

Ecoterra International – Updates & Statements, Review & Clearing-house

A Voice from the Truth- & Justice-Seekers, who sit between all chairs, because they are not part of organized white-collar or no-collar-crime in Somalia or overseas, and who neither benefit from global naval militarization, from the illegal fishing and dumping in Somali waters or the piracy of merchant vessels, nor from the booming insurance business or the exorbitant ransom-, risk-management- or security industry, while neither the protection of the sea, the development of fishing communities nor the humanitarian assistance to abducted seafarers and their families is receiving the required adequate attention, care and funding.

"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act". George Orwell

2009-05-06 11h56:53 UTC

EA Illegal Fishing and Dumping Hotline: +254-714-747090 (confidentiality guaranteed) - email: somalia@ecoterra.net

EA Seafarers Assistance Programme Emergency Helpline: SMS to +254-738-497979 or call +254-733-633-733

"The pirates must not be allowed to destroy our dream!"

Capt. Florent Lemaçon - F/Y Tanit - killed by attack of French commandos - 10. April 2009

Non A La Guerre - Yes To Peace

(Inscription on the sail of F/Y TANIT shot down on day one of the French assault)

None of the various, local or foreign pirate outfits we like to add -

Clearing-house

Mystery surrounds the presently second-longest sea-jacking case in Somalia. Malaysian owned tug MASINDRA 7 and its Indonesian owned barge ADM 1 had already been engulfed in several ill-designed release-attempts by the owner, several Somali brokers, a coast-guard militia as well as a Malaysian warship subjecting the crew to serious danger. Since yesterday evening we have no more contact to the vessel, a family member of the 11 Indonesian crew reported and fears for the worst.

News from sea-jackings, abductions or newly attacked ships --------

Sea-jacking of German owned MV VICTORIA confirmed

"At approximately 09:09 a.m. AST (2:09 a.m. British time), the Maritime Administration of Antigua and Barbuda was advised that the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged cargo vessel the M/V VICTORIA had been hijacked by eight pirates in the Gulf of Aden whilst proceeding towards the Port of Jeddah in the Red Sea", the Antigua and Barbuda government said in a statement. It added the 7,767 gross ton, 146-metre general cargo vessel had a crew of ten and it was believed the hijacked vessel was being taken to the Somali port of Eyl, a known pirate lair. The statement gave no more details about the fate of the ship's crew, believed to be all Romanian, while a US Navy spokesman said on Wednesday the ship would have 11 Romanian crew members, but he had no information on the condition of the crew. Lt. Nate Christensen, a spokesman for the Bahrain-based US 5th Fleet, said the ship was seized on Tuesday in an area 75 miles south of Yemen. Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers Assistance Program said the crew are unhurt.

The Government of the Caribbean state said the vessel, which is managed by a German company, had been registered with the European Union anti-piracy flotilla operating in the region and was navigating in the recommended East-West corridor of the Gulf at the time of the hijacking. The crew is covered by an ITF agreement through Kru Maritime SRL with the Romanian Seafarers' Free Union. The 2004 built vessel is said to have been carrying 10,000 tonnes of rice, is owned by VICTORIA SCHIFFAHRTS GMBH of Germany, managed by INTERSEE SCHIFFAHRTSGESELLSCHAFT GmbH in Haren, Germany and insured by Sveriges Angfartys Assurans Forening (Swedish Club). The German government recalled its GSG-9 commando unit from the pirate-infested region over the weekend after deciding that attempting to storm another ship – the HANSA STAVANGER – could have ended in a bloodbath. Some German politicians have since complained the government needs to improve cooperation between the military and the elite police unit to avoid bureaucratic delays in the future. An executive at INTERSEE confirmed the hijacking to Bloomberg but said he couldn’t make any further comment.

The Italian navy prevented a pirate attack on an Italian-flagged tanker Tuesday in the Gulf of Aden, defense officials said. ANSA reported the pirates fled as a military helicopter and the Italian frigate Maestrale approached. The ship, the 2004 built MT NEVERLAND, owned by an Italian company and managed from Monte Carlo, Monaco, was heading east toward India, carrying natural gas, the Italian news service reported. The large crude-oil tanker with a gross-tonnage of 56,346 is said to not have been damaged and no one was hurt in the incident. Shortly after the Italian navy came to the assistance of the Greek-owned cargo vessel Michael S.

The Greek operator of the handymax bulk carrier MV ARIANA, seized by pirates four days ago, has reported that it has been in contact with the captain of the ship. The 24 crew on board are apparently in good health and the pirates have not been aggressive. The ship is being held near the Somali coast after its hijacking between the Seychelles and Madagascar.

Navies Have Apparently Still Not Found or Arrested the Murder Ship!

MT AGIA BARBARA: still at large !

Crew Wanted for Murder !

The position and route of the vessel with a crew of 6 Syrians and 6 Indians - wanted for murder in Mogadishu harbour - as well as at least one Somali business-agent on board are now roughly known. The small tanker with the IMO number 7616004 and call sign HO4050 flies a Panama flag (possibly now changed). Registered ship owner and manager is MEADOWLARK SHIPPING & TRADING CO. of Piraeus in Greece and the tanker is operated from an office in the UAE. Please report any sighting.

Meanwhile MEADOWLARK SHIPPING & TRADING CO. claims that it is no longer the owner of the vessel. In an unspecified e-mail an unidentified sender claimed that MEADOWLARK SHIPPING & TRADING CO. is incorrectly registered as owner in the shipping registers and that the MT AGIA BARBARA was sold to new owners and would be managed by new managers since September 2008. The sender further stated that the current owners would be WORLD CHAMPION MARINE (the Buyer) and not MEADOWLARK SHIPPING & TRADING CO. (the Seller).

WORLD CHAMPION MARINE, however, could so far not be traced. Unconfirmed reports warn that the vessel if not stopped immediately could reach Eritrea or Sudan and the crew could disappear from there. The Somali Government has officially requested all navies and coastal authorities to immediately impound the vessel and to arrest the crew. Vessel picture: http://www.shipspotting.com/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=70209 Please report any sighting to: somalia[at]ecoterra.net

With the latest captures and releases now still at least 20 foreign vessels (21 with an unnamed sole Barge which drifted ashore) with a total of not less than 307 crew members accounted for (of which 84 are confirmed to be Filipinos (plus maybe 16 of recently captured MV PATRIOT) are held in Somali waters and are monitored on our actual case-list, while several other cases of ships, which were observed off the coast of Somalia and have been reported or had reportedly disappeared without trace or information, are still being followed. Over 134 incidences (including attempted attacks, averted attacks and successful sea-jackings) have been recorded for 2008 with 49 fully documented, factual sea-jacking cases (for Somalia, incl. presently held ones) and the mistaken sinking of one vessel by a naval force. For 2009 the account stands at 77 averted or abandoned attacks with 35 sea-jackings on the Somali/Yemeni pirate side as well as at least two wrongful attacks (incl. friendly fire) on the side of the naval forces. Mystery pirate mother-vessels Athena/Arena and Burum Ocean as well as not fully documented cases of absconded vessels are not listed in the sea-jack count until clarification. Several other vessels with unclear fate (also not in the actual count), who were reported missing over the last ten years in this area, are still kept on our watch-list, though in some cases it is presumed that they sunk due to bad weather or being unfit to sail. In the last four years, 22 missing ships have been traced back with different names, flags and superstructures.

Directly piracy related reports

Residents of Hobyo and Harardheere flee inland. Reports from the coastal stretch along the Indian ocean coast, which has seen many of the sea-jacked vessels being held nearby, say local residents are afraid of an imminent attack by naval forces. "Fear and desperation caused our people to flee their homes in the coastal towns to hideouts inland in order to not be hit by a military operation", Sheik Ali reported and stated that coastal leaders and elders had gathered in order to decide how to respond, if their areas would be targeted by a military operation. The traditional leaders seek to calm down the population while many young fighters prepare for a full fledged war and threaten that the Hawiye clan would have to pull out from the Somali government, if it could not protect its people from foreign attacks against locations along the coast, where members of criminal pirate gangs hide among the civilian population.

The outcome of a direct attack on land by foreign forces would create a disaster for Somalia, Sheikh Ali stated. Talks are on among the foreign navies patrolling the Indian Ocean to decide whether to directly attack Somali pirates, the deputy commander for the United States military command for Africa (AFRICOM), Mary Yates, said in Nairobi. Ms Yates told reporters at the United States Embassy that “meetings are going on” on the possibility of direct military attacks on the pirates after sustained attacks against vessels even in the presence of patrol navies. Navies of several countries, including those from NATO, which brings together European and US armies, China, Japan are among those patrolling the waters to help end the menace. AFRICOM is, however, not directly involved in discussions regarding possible attacks on Somalia pirates, Ms Yates said. “Our role in Somalia currently is supporting African Union peacekeeping mission and efforts by coalition partners in the Indian Ocean,” she said.

AFRICOM has donated to the peacekeeping force in Somalia and its input includes training and airlifting of equipment for the mission. Confirmation by Ms Yates adds to the ongoing speculation that the US and its allies in the Indian Ocean may consider direct military attacks against pirates. Last month, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, said the Contact Group on Piracy Off the Coast of Somali, a group of more than a dozen countries including Kenya, was consulting “to expand the multinational response to piracy”. The United Nations authorizes use of force against the pirates, through the Security Council resolution last year, which authorizes the states to “take measures that are appropriate in Somalia” to suppress “acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea”. But it restricts the action to maritime territory, meaning the coalition partners cannot attack pirates inland without violating the sovereignty of the country. Analysts warn that Somali piracy is a complex socio-political and economic phenomenon that can be attacked with force, but not ultimately eradicated by it. The solution lies in strengthening political and security capabilities in Somalia, they say.

Why The Pirates Are Immune From Attack, writes James Dunnigan in StrategyPage and tries to explain:

Somali pirates are now operating as far east as the Seychelles, which are a group of 115 islands 1,500 kilometers from the African coast. The islands have a total population of 85,000 and no military power to speak of. They are defenseless against pirates. So are many of the ships moving north and south off the East Coast of Africa. While ships making the Gulf of Aden run know they must take measures to deal with pirate attacks (posting lookouts 24/7, training the crew to use fire hoses and other measures to repel boarders, hanging barbed wire on the railings and over the side to deter boarders), this is not so common for ships operating a thousand kilometers or more off the east coast of Africa. Ships in this area were warned late last year that they were at risk. Now, the pirates are out in force, demonstrating that the risk is real.

The pirates are media savvy, and are pushing the line that they are simply patriots, getting payback for the foreigners who illegally fish in Somali waters (common) and dump toxic wastes off the coast (rare, but makes for great headlines). There are over a thousand gunmen attached to pirate gangs in the north, although the group operating off the east coast pay "taxes" to al Shabaab for the use of several fishing villages. Most of the ships seized late last year were taken closer to the Yemeni coast, thus showing that the entire Gulf of Aden (between Yemen and Somalia, with the Indian ocean to the east and the entrance to the Red Sea to the west) was subject to pirate attacks. Despite the scary headlines this has generated, world trade, or even traffic to the Suez Canal (at the north end of the Red Sea) is not threatened.

While ten percent of world shipping traffic goes through the Gulf of Aden each year, most of it is in ships too fast for the pirates to catch, and too large for them to easily get aboard. These ships pay higher fuel costs (for the high speed transit), higher insurance premiums, and two days of "danger pay" for their unionized crews, and that's it. This increases the annual operating costs of these ships by a fraction of one percent. But for smaller, and slower, freighters, mostly serving local customers, the pirates remain a problem. These ships tend to be owned by African and Arab companies, and manned by African and Arab crews.

In dealing with a piracy problem like this, you have three main choices. You can do what is currently being done, which is patrolling the Gulf of Aden and shooting only when you see speedboats full of gunmen threatening a merchant ship. The rule appears to be that you fire lots of warning shots, and rarely fire at the pirates themselves. This approach has saved a few ships from capture, and the more warships you get into the Gulf, the more pirate attacks you can foil. But it won't stop the pirates from capturing ships. Establishing a similar anti-piracy patrol off the east coast of Africa would cost over half a billion dollars a year, at least.

A second approach is to be more aggressive. That is, your ships and helicopters shoot (pirates) on sight and shoot to kill. Naturally, the pirates will hide their weapons (until they are in the act of taking a ship), but it will still be obvious what a speedboat full of "unarmed" men are up to. You could take a chance (of dead civilians and bad publicity) and shoot up any suspicious speedboat. Some of the pirates would probably resort to taking some women and children with them. Using human shields is an old custom, and usually works against Westerners. More pirate attacks will be thwarted with this approach, but the attacks will continue, and NATO will be painted as murderous bullies in the media.

The third option is to go ashore and kill or capture all the pirates, or at least as many as you can identify. Destroy pirate boats and weapons. This is very dangerous, because innocent civilians will be killed or injured, and the property of non-pirates will be damaged. The anti-piracy forces will be condemned in some quarters for committing atrocities. There might even be indictments for war crimes. There will be bad publicity. NATO will most likely avoid this option too. The bottom line is that the pirate attacks, even if they took two or three times as many ships as last year, would not have a meaningful economic impact on world shipping. For example, the international anti-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden costs $300 million a year, a fraction of a percent of the defense budgets of the nations involved. Politicians and bureaucrats can stand that kind of pain, and will likely do so and refrain from doing anything bold in Somalia.

Somali refugees are a growing problem. Not so much because there are more and more of them, but because so many of them are criminals. Kenya, which has suffered from Somali raiders for centuries, is now turning back Somalis seeking asylum. The UN has condemned this, and demands that Kenya allow a fourth Somali refugee camp be established in northeastern Kenya. The three camps already there hold over 250,000 Somalis. The UN is also trying to get Kenya to stop sending Somali refugees back to Somalia. Kenya accepted 60,000 Somali refugees last year, and have had no end of problems with them. Over 20,000 Somali refugees entered Kenya this year. Somali gunmen try, and often succeed, in using the refugee camps as rest areas. Worse, the Somali gunmen sometimes do some looting in Kenya, instead of going back to Somali to steal.

So Kenya has told the UN to stuff it, and is turning away most Somalis trying to flee into Kenya. But the UN insists that peace can only be achieved if a deal is negotiated with the Islamic radicals and most powerful warlords. That's difficult, because these groups cannot even agree among themselves who shall rule all of Somalia. Moreover, the Islamic radicals, especially al Shabaab, wants to establish an Islamic state in Somalia, and later the world. The UN believes it is possible to negotiate around these obstacles, but is vague on exactly how that will be done.

Somali Islamic radical groups Al Shabaab has warned Kenya to not interfere with its gunmen operating along the border. This is a seemingly bold, but typically Somali, attitude towards Kenyans. In this case, Kenya has a lot of powerful allies, like the United States, and is not that intimidated. But the Somalis militants are violent and unpredictable, so the Kenyans are braced for anything. For the last two years, Kenya has officially closed the border, but Somalis continue to use it (for fleeing as refugees, or smuggling both ways).

With more Islamic terrorists operating openly in Somalia, under the protection of al Shabaab, the security of the Kenyan border becomes more important. Islamic terrorists can use Kenyan airports and ports to get in and out, although there is less scrutiny up north in Puntland and Somaliland (where passage to Yemen, Sudan or Saudi Arabia is easily arranged). Eritrea and Sudan are particularly hospitable to Islamic radicals.

Other nations are imposing more restrictions on Somalis fleeing the anarchy in Somalia. The Netherlands recently decided to stop automatically granting asylum to Somalis illegally entering the country, because many were criminals or using fraud to claim asylum. Smuggling Somalis into Europe is a big business for the network of criminal gangs from Somalia, Yemen, Africa and Europe. Somalis who can pay, send smuggle family members to safety in Europe and North America. Some of the men return to fight for clan or religious militias. A Somali, who was a naturalized Canadian citizen, was recently reported killed while involved in a raid into Ethiopia, while another is accused of carrying out political assassinations inside Somalia.

Al Shabaab and the Transitional National Government (TNG, now run by more moderate Islamic radicals) are trying to gain more control over foreign aid groups. The foreign aid is the main source of food for several million Somalis, and a major source of income for warlords (including al Shabaab and several groups that support the TNG). The aid groups are forces to pay for security (a "protection racket") in order to assure the safety of their staff. This has not always worked. Last year, 34 aid workers were killed in Somalia, 26 were kidnapped, and 13 of these are still being held (for ransom, or other considerations). Al Shabaab and the TNG have fought each other to a standstill in southern Somalia, and are trying to negotiate some kind of understanding.

April 8, 2009: An American container ship, the Maersk ALABAMA, headed for Mombassa, Kenya, with relief supplies for Somali refugees, was attacked by pirates, who briefly took control of the ship. The American crew fought back, and drove the pirates off. But during the struggle, the pirates kept the American captain captive, while the crew seized one of the pirates. Negotiations ensued, and a deal was made to exchange prisoners. The Americans released their Somali captive, who went to join his fellow pirates in a small boat sitting next to the 481 foot (155m) long container ship. But then the pirates refused to release their captive, and a standoff ensued. An American destroyed showed up the next day, to add its weight to the negotiations.

April 7, 2009: In the last two days, Somali pirates seized five ships off the east coast, often hundreds of kilometers out to sea. It's believed that several pirate mother ships (seagoing fishing boats towing one or more speedboats) are patrolling the East African shipping lanes, where there are few pirate ships patrolling. The pirates now have 17 ships, and over 250 sailors, being held for ransom.

April 5, 2009: A Yemeni ocean going tugboat, and its seven man crew, were seized by Somali pirates off the east coast.

April 3, 2009: Puntland has established a coast guard, to regulate (and tax) foreign fishing boats operating off its coast. But no country officially recognizes the government of Puntland, and recently, two Greek fishing boats resisted, with gunfire, being seized (for illegal fishing) by the Puntland coast guard. Many consider the Puntland coast guard to be a semi-official pirate organization.

Anti-piracy measures

Somali Piracy Must Come to Its End

Somali Leaders and Elders in unity to curb the menace.

At a meeting hosted by EUNAVFOR, the European Union's Joint Naval Forces on Saturday, 2nd May, members of the Somali Diaspora in Europe gathered in central London / UK to meet with Captain Ferrington on key issues such as illegal fishing and dumping in the waters off the coasts of Somalia.

The conference was attended by a broad representation of the Somali community abroad, including elders, academia, politicians, traditional and religious leaders who are committed to find and support an adequate response from the International community to the wide ranging challenges Somalia faces. Interest in Somalia has been rising in recent months based on the increasing number of incidences of piracy in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. The wide publicity of acts of piracy has opened official channels to Somali stakeholders and allowed now to also discuss the underlying causes as well as other relevant and pressing issues that deserve similar attention.

Captain Farrington, the representative of EUNAVFOR and Chief of Staff to Operation Atalanta delivered a presentation on piracy and other related issues in Somalia including illegal fishing and dumping, which have lead to the rise of piracy around the Horn of Africa in the recent years. The EU Diaspora in general and representatives of Somali communities in Europe appreciated the opportunity to engage with EUNAVFOR Atalanta in a constructive discussion on these crucial issues. Capt. Farrington in an interview with the media following the conference, stated that the event resulted in a positive impact on the Somali communities and expressed his appreciation that the members of the Somali Diaspora in Europe do not view EUNAVFOR Atalanta as a foe but as an ally in the process to rid Somalia of piracy. In conclusion the Somali participants showed clear willingness to support the European naval initiatives and to assist as well as support wherever possible the anti-piracy efforts as well as actions to curb other illegal activities being perpetrated against Somalia and Somalis. Key members of the Somali government showed their full support and are keen to see pro-active steps to curb piracy, stated Ismail Haji Noor, the organizer of the conference, while the Somalis at the meeting made it clear that any operation in the territorial waters of Somalia or on land can only be carried out with the full consent of the Somali Government.

Russia should look with other countries into setting up an international court to deal with the problem of piracy, President Dmitry Medvedev said Monday, Russian news agencies report. Medvedev instructed Russia's prosecutor general, Yury Chaika, to make contact with other countries concerned by the piracy threat plaguing the coast of Somalia to find ways of bringing the pirates to justice. "It's necessary to look at all the options, including perhaps creating some sort of international court on this issue", Medvedev said. The Russian president instructed Chaika to work with other Russian departments and "establish contact on this subject with foreign colleagues, to look at the various options for bringing pirates to justice". Russia is one of several countries to have sent naval ships to the coast of Somalia to try to combat the rising tide of attacks on vessels passing through the strategic Gulf of Aden. “The Russians do not need to look any further: The (International) Tribunal for the Law of the Sea is ready to judge each piracy case that states want it to deal with”, Jose Luis Jesus, president of the Hamburg-based organization confirmed.

U.S.-American Senator Frank Lautenberg said Tuesday the [U.S.-American] military has taken a timid approach to fighting piracy and should more aggressively protect U.S. cargo ships instead of responding after an attack, AP reported. Democratic party member Lautenberg, who chairs a Senate commerce subcommittee with jurisdiction over the maritime industry, likened the military's approach to the reactive response of alarm companies. He noted at a hearing on how to best protect U.S. ships that many merchant ships under siege by pirates off the waters of Somalia are delivering humanitarian supplies. "At what point do we say it's our responsibility? We have to have ... cops on the beat there because we know there's trouble on these streets", said Lautenberg, D-N.J. "What is wrong with organizing ourselves to protect these ships?" Theresa Whelan, deputy assistant secretary of defense for African affairs, testified that discussions are under way about what changes are necessary. But she said the vastness of the waters and the Navy's obligations pose challenges. Whelan said among unsuccessful pirate attacks in the region, 78 percent were thwarted by the crews, while 22 percent were stopped by military or law enforcement interventions.

She said the statistics highlight that the most effective short-term response is to work with merchant shipping lines to ensure they know how to respond. Maersk ALABAMA Capt. Richard Phillips, who was held hostage by Somali pirates, testified at the hearing that he thinks a multifaceted approach involving improved training is needed. He testified — as he has before — that having private security on board may be a solution, but he says he'd prefer to have government protection forces. At the hearing, a video was shown of a pirate attack on a separate ship, the Liberty Sun, two days after Phillips was rescued. Philip Shapiro, the president and CEO of the Liberty Maritime Corp., which owns the Liberty Sun, said the hostage situation was a "game-changer". Shapiro asked Congress to change laws to make it easier for ships to be armed.

Roy Kienitz, transportation's undersecretary of policy, said many "complicated factors" must be addressed before the shipping industry can hire private armed guards, such as developing rules on use of force and compliance at various world ports. "I've heard the suggestion that all we have to do to counter piracy is 'arm the crews'," Phillips told a Senate subcommittee hearing. "Arming the crews cannot and should not be viewed as the final and only solution", he said. Among other concerns, Phillips said that as a captain he was not thrilled with the idea of a security team that would not be part of the crew, because in a crisis there needs to be one commander making decisions.

The Truth about the Pirates of Somalia
by Raw Wealth

Last night I over heard some people talking about how President Obama is going to ‘take care’ of the vicious and malignant pirates in Somalia, and how proud they were that he is going to take some initiative outside the usual “American political bubble”. At first take, I thought to myself, couldn’t they come up with a better reason for justifying his ineffective leadership thus far? Of course is beyond the scope of this post. What I would like to discuss here is who exactly these “pirates” are and why they are taking people hostage.

The piracy off the coast of Somalia to many will be dismissed as a symptom of the breakdown of government in the country, but is this really the case? Is this really just a movement lead by thugs and gangsters? I will admit it myself, for a while now, I thought those “pirates” in Somalia were just troubled youth looking for an adventure thanks to the likes of FOXnews, CNN and MSNBC.

It couldn’t be further from the truth though. Is it not true for every action there is a reaction, no pun intended? For years now, since anarchy took hold of Somalia, the west along with other developed countries like Japan have been taking advantage of the seas around Somalia, indulging in many illegal practices that wouldn’t be accepted anywhere else in the world. Not only have they been dumping off all their toxic waste into the marine area surrounding Somalia, but have been practicing illegal fishing techniques, stealing upwards of $300 million worth of tuna alone each year from the seas around Somalia. It is these same techniques that leave the Somalis with little food to survive off. Johann Hari of the Huffingtonpost explains the problem facing the Somalis very precisely:

“In 1991, the government of Somalia - in the Horn of Africa - collapsed. Its nine million people have been teetering on starvation ever since - and many of the ugliest forces in the Western world have seen this as a great opportunity to steal the country's food supply and dump our nuclear waste in their seas”.

Hari goes on articulating the severity of the problem:

“As soon as the government was gone, mysterious European ships started appearing off the coast of Somalia, dumping vast barrels into the ocean. The coastal population began to sicken. At first they suffered strange rashes, nausea and malformed babies. Then, after the 2005 tsunami, hundreds of the dumped and leaking barrels washed up on shore. People began to suffer from radiation sickness, and more than 300 died”.

Now don’t get me wrong, there are a few gangsters out there pirating just for fun, but many of these pirates are sincerely trying to protect the land they live in, the land the grew up in.

As a matter of fact, before piracy in Somalia was the only choice Somalis were left with to protect their country, many representatives appointed by their communities in Somalia would go out in speed boats to try to convince people dumping toxins into their seas not to do it. As for those that were fishing in their seas, they would try to tax. When the Somalis realized this wasn’t working they turned to Piracy. This is what the news is trying to convince you of as being a senseless and symptomatic behaviour of backwards people in some no name land in Africa.

Recently, and ever increasingly more ironic, NATO, along with British and US American fleets have decided to come together to fight off the piracy happening in Somalia. (I say ironic because who would have ever thought in the 21st century nations like the US and Britain would have to come together to fight off a few pirates.)

Some American Congressmen (led by Ron Paul) want to take it a little further as reported by POLITICO:

“A growing number of national security experts are calling on Congress to consider using letters of marque and reprisal, a power written into the Constitution that allows the United States to hire private citizens to keep international waters safe”.

Ron Paul is clearly not aware of what is really going on off the coast of Somalia. He says:

“What is going on in Somalia has nothing to do with blow back”.

Wow, this is unlike Ron Paul, he is usually well informed and I hope someone presents the real case to him before he embarrasses himself any further.

The latest incident of “piracy” in Somalia has become increasingly dramatic in the news though. Why, you ask? Well as explained by Hablayo Cabdi (Muslim Matters) firstly it was an American taken hostage, which makes it more of a sensitive subject for stations like CNN and FOX news. Secondly and more importantly the ship called Maresk-ALABAMA, is owned by Denmark and is a part of a security program called U.S Maritime Security Program. As Hablayo explains:

“The program is a collaborative effort between the departments of defense and transportation. The goal of the program is to provide cargo-carrying capability to the American military as a part of the Voluntary Intermodal Sealift Agreement or VISA as it is known. VISA allows commercial ships to carry military cargo along with its own hold (or sometimes in place of its own cargo) as a way to support U.S. military missions and also to increase the presence of American flagged ships in international waters”.

Hablayo goes on to explain that the pirates that took this ship and its men hostage were probably unaware of the weapons on board this ship, and that’s why it has become such a sensitive case to the media.

I would like to go a little further and ask why this ship was docking of the coast of Somalia? Is it possible it was there as a reinforcement for the encroaching attack the US and Britain have planned on the Somalis fighting to re-gain power over their seas? Just a thought, but a sincere concern

Frank D. Woodruff Monett proposes on the website news-leader.com, what he calls an "imaginative" approach and says: “Our [US-American] government sits around wringing their hands as to what to do. They say we can't arm our ships because of the chance of blowing up a ship that's full of oil or gas. What about freighters? The excuses go on and on. There seems to be no imagination in our government. So I'll give them a little hint as to what I would do. Get an empty tanker and fill its tanks with water so the ship will look loaded. Then arm that ship with Marines who stay below deck. Put large guns under cover on the ship that will reach out and touch them, so to speak. Let the ship cruise Somalia, 30 miles out or more, as bait to suck in the pirates. If the pirates take the bait and fire on this tanker, then the tanker could open fire back with all they had. Take no prisoners. The word would slowly get out then and the pirates would then have the fear put in them as they would no longer have any idea as to whom to attack. Piracy will end after a few pirates are lost. I don't want to hear this business of "that's not ethical" or even "it's against international law". All I want to hear is "Let's get it done now". Throw the bait out and let's see if we get a nibble. Where are the guts and imagination of our government”?

What the cowboy-minded proponent, however, does forget is the fact that Somalis would only see such approach as a challenge to blow the sucker-vessel out of the water - and the escalation-scenario would be perfect. Is it that what the author and many Americans want?

Philip Shapiro, head of Liberty Maritime Corp., told a U.S. Senate Commerce subcommittee that the owners of U.S.-flagged "have done all they can within the law to protect our crews". “In light of the recent threats to U.S. merchant mariners, we respectfully request that Congress consider clearing the obstacles that currently block ship owners from arming our vessels”, Shapiro said.

"We've heard some suggestions that U.S.-flagged ship owners have not done enough to protect their vessels", Shapiro said. "That view ... is flat wrong. Our company adopted every measure recommended by the international maritime organizations and required by the Coast Guard's approved security plan for making the vessel a difficult piracy target -- and more". Merchant vessels don't usually carry firearms, he said, but the "Maersk ALABAMA incident constitutes a game changer. ... Self-proclaimed pirate leaders have now issued direct threats of violence against American merchant mariners". Shapiro said that U.S. crews have a right to self-defense under U.S. laws dating back to 1819, but "recently enacted State Department arms export regulations effectively prohibit the arming of vessels". He also said that ship owners are at risk of "being second-guessed in U.S. and foreign courts for self-defensive measures that were common in 1819". Shapiro urged congressional leaders to help "bring U.S. law up to date and give us the legal framework we need to be able to protect ourselves", CNN reports.

However, John Clancy, the head of Maersk Line Ltd., said arming sailors could potentially worsen the current situation off the African coast. "Arming merchant sailors may result in the acquisition of even more lethal weapons and tactics by the pirates in a race that merchant sailors cannot win", Clancy told the committee. "In addition, most ports of call will not permit the introduction of firearms into the national waters", he noted. Clancy said the solution to piracy must ultimately be an international one. He pointed out that most of the vessels that face a piracy threat do not fly the U.S. flag. He also noted that most of the naval vessels assigned to counter piracy off the Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Aden are not from the United States.

Marine ecosystem and IUU fishing

Is it possible that we have consumed all the Tuna the Sea has to offer us?
‘Bluefin tuna is collapsing as we speak and yet the fishery will kick off for business as usual’, said Sergi Tudela, of WWF. According to The World Wildlife Fund: “The population can only be saved by a complete halt to fishing in May and June, when the fish swim to the Mediterranean to spawn”, the WWF says. ‘It is absurd and inexcusable to open a fishing season when stocks of the target species are collapsing’. The call comes as the two month tuna fishing season begins. If off-take is not stopped, Bluefin Tuna will be wiped out in 3 Years, the organization predicts! Cheap politics, like in France, where the lawmakers bowed to the striking fishing industry workers and their vessel-operators are behind the unabated over-utilization of our oceans.

European Union must act against illegal fishing in Somalia and the Indian ocean

Oceana supports Commissioner responsible for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Joe Borg’s statements urging the European Union to act against IUU (Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated) fishing in Somalia and the Indian Ocean. “Illegal fishing robs the Somali people, one of the poorest of the world, of income or other benefits from their rich fish resources. Much of the fish is ending on the European markets”, says Oceana campaign director Ricardo Aguilar. “Any European mission in the Indian Ocean must help to fight against illegal fishing in Somali waters. IUU fishing is a big problem in the Indian and other oceans. The EU has to include clear provisions in the IUU- and Control regulation and member States in their laws, that EU owners of IUU fishing boats are fined and their EU companies are closed“.

According to a 2005 report from the Marine Resources Assessment Group (MRAG) for the UK government, the Somali economy loses an estimated $94 million a year due to illegal fishing. The report quotes estimates of around 700 vessels fishing illegally there. In April 2009, Abdirahman Ibbi, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources in the new Somali National Unity Government told IRIN, an United Nations news agency, that an estimated 220 foreign-owned vessels were engaged in unlicensed and illegal fishing in Somali waters, most of them of European origin.

Italian and French tuna purse seiners fished in the Somali 200 miles zone in the past and Spanish tuna purse seiners fished there until 2006, without an official EU bilateral fisheries agreement between the European Union and Somalia. Before 2006, Spanish vessels were claiming they were paying Somali “officials” under private agreements for the tuna that is fished for the European Union market. Recently two Greek owned fishing vessels have been reported to fish illegally in Somali waters, running flags of convenience of Panama and Cambodia.

(N.B.: Ecoterra Intl. had urged for a ban since 1994 and the new Somali Government has now revoked all foreign fishing licenses, promising that news ones would only be issued after a thorough revision of the fisheries legislation and control over the vast areas of the Somali EEZ would have been re-established.)

Ghost nets hurting marine environment

Abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear is impacting fish stocks and poses a hazard to boats

Large amounts of fishing gear lost at sea or abandoned by fishers are hurting the marine environment, impacting fish stocks through "ghost fishing" and posing a hazard to ships, according to a new report jointly produced by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

According to the study, the problem of abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) is getting worse due to the increased scale of global fishing operations and the introduction of highly durable fishing gear made of long-lasting synthetic materials.

The report estimates that abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear in the oceans makes up around 10 percent (640 000 tonnes) of all marine litter. Merchant shipping is the primary source on the open sea, land-based sources are the predominate cause of marine debris in coastal areas.

Most fishing gear is not deliberately discarded but is lost in storms or strong currents or results from "gear conflicts", for example, fishing with nets in areas where bottom-traps that can entangle them are already deployed.

The main impacts of abandoned or lost fishing gear are:

continued catches of fish -- known as "ghost fishing" -- and other animals such as turtles, seabirds, and marine mammals, who are trapped and die;

alterations of the sea-floor environment;

and

the creation of navigation hazards that can cause accidents at sea and damage boats.

Gill nets, fishing pots and traps are most likely to "ghost fish", while longlines, are more likely to ensnare other marine organisms and trawls most likely to damage sub-sea habitats.

Ghost fishing

In the past, poorly operated drift nets were the prime culprits, but a 1992 ban on their use in many areas has reduced their contribution to ghost fishing.

Today, bottom set gill nets are more often-cited as a problem. The bottom edge of these nets is anchored to the sea floor and floats are attached to their top, so that they form a vertical undersea wall of netting that can run anywhere from 600 to 10 000 meters in length. If a gillnet is abandoned or lost, it can continue to fish on its own for months – and sometimes years – indiscriminately killing fish and other animals.

Traps and pots are another major ghost fisher. In the Chesapeake Bay of the United States, an estimated 150 000 crab traps are lost each year out of an estimated 500 000 total deployed. On just the single Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, about 20 000 of all traps set each year are lost each hurricane season – a loss rate of 50 percent. Like gill nets, these traps can continue to fish on their own for long periods of time.

Solutions

"The amount of fishing gear remaining in the marine environment will continue to accumulate and the impacts on marine ecosystems will continue to get worse if the international community doesn't take effective steps to deal with the problem of marine debris as a whole. Strategies for addressing the problem must occur on multiple fronts, including prevention, mitigation, and curative measures", said Ichiro Nomura, FAO Assistant Director-General for Fisheries and Aquaculture. He also noted that FAO is working closely with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in its ongoing review of Annex V of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) as regards fishing gear and shore side reception facilities.

Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director, said: ”There are many ‘ghosts in the marine environment machine’ from over-fishing and acidification linked with greenhouse gases to the rise in de-oxygenated ‘dead zones’ as a result of run off and land-based source of pollution. Abandoned and lost fishing is part of this suite of challenges that must be urgently addressed collectively if the productivity of our oceans and seas is to be maintained for this and future generations, not least for achievement of the UN Millennium Development Goals”.

The FAO/UNEP report makes a number of recommendations for tackling the problem of ghost nets:

Financial incentives. Economic incentives could encourage fishers to report lost gear or bring to port old and damaged gear, as well as any ghost nets they might recover accidentally while fishing.

Marking gear. Not all trash gear is deliberately dumped, so marking should not be used to "identify offenders" but rather better understand the reasons for gear loss and identify appropriate, fishery-specific preventative measures.

New technologies. New technologies offer new possibilities for reducing the probability of ghost fishing. Sea-bed imaging can be used to avoid undersea snags and obstacles. Fishing equipment can be expensive, and many fishers often go to great lengths to retrieve lost gear. Technology that makes doing so easier can help. Using GPS, vessels can mark locations where gear has been lost, facilitating retrieval, and transponders can be fitted to gear in order to do the same. Similarly, improvements in weather monitoring technology can be used to help skippers avoid deploying nets when very bad weather is imminent.

Just as new synthetic and other materials used in fishing gears have contributed to the ADLFG problem, they can also help solve it. Work is underway to speed up the commercial adoption of durable gear components that incorporate bio-degradable elements. For example, in some countries fish traps and pots are constructed with a biodegradable "escape hatch" that disintegrates when left under water too long, rendering the trap harmless. As this would not necessarily reduce the levels of debris, a reporting and retrieval system should also be adopted.

Improving collection, disposal and recycling schemes. It is necessary to facilitate proper disposal of all old, damaged and retrieved fishing gears, according to the report. Most ports do not have facilities on site that allow for this. Putting disposal bins on docks and providing boats with oversized, high-strength disposal bags for old fishing gear or parts thereof can help remedy this.

Better reporting of lost gear. A key recommendation of the report is that vessels should be required to log gear losses as a matter of course. However a "no-blame" approach should be followed with respect to liability for losses, their impacts, and any recovery efforts, it says. The goal should be to improve awareness of potential hazards and increase the opportunity for gear recovery.
The report discusses a number of other measures that could help, as well.

"Clearly solutions to this problem do exist, and our hope is that this report will prompt industry and governments to take action to significantly reduce the amount of lost or abandoned fishing gear in the marine environment", said Nomura.

The new report comes as nations are set to gather in for the World Oceans Conference in Manado, Indonesia (11-15 May 2009), where the issue of realizing healthy marine environments will figure high on the agenda.

Islands of garbage

The total input of marine litter into the oceans per year has been estimated at approximately 6.4 million tonnes annually, of which nearly 5.6 million tonnes (88 percent) comes from merchant shipping.

Some 8 million items of marine litter are thought to enter the oceans and seas every day, about 5 million (63 percent) of which are solid waste thrown overboard or lost from ships.

It has been estimated that currently over 13 000 pieces of plastic litter are floating on every square kilometer of ocean. In 2002, 6 kg of plastic was found for every kilogram of plankton near the surface of a gyre point in the central Pacific, where debris collects.

Mass concentrations of marine debris in high seas accumulation areas, such as the equatorial convergence zone, are of particular concern. In some such areas, rafts of assorted debris, including various plastics; ropes; fishing nets; and cargo-associated wastes such as dunnage, pallets, wires and plastic covers, drums and shipping containers, along with accumulated slicks of various oils, often extend for many kilometers.

Inventing "smarter" gear

Work is underway to explore durable gear that incorporates bio-degradable elements. This approach is already used in some countries for fish traps and pots, which are constructed with a biodegradable "escape hatch" that disintegrates when left under water too long, rendering the trap harmless. Fledgling efforts are under way to develop biodegradable and oxy-degradable plastics for wider using in the fishing industry.

The use of passive acoustic pingers on nets can help prevent cetacean entanglement when fishing and remain active if gear is lost. Experimentation is also underway in the addition of sound-reflecting substances to netting material, with the same goal.

And designs are being developed that incorporate pieces of cord to nets that function normally during fishing but which break when trapped large animals begin to thrash, freeing them.

The addition of magnets to gear can deter sharks from approaching too closely.

No real peace yet

Five more Burundi peacekeepers died from their injuries after a suicide attack on an African Union base in Mogadishu, raising the death toll in the bombing to 11, a military spokesperson said on Monday, as reported by AFP. The soldiers were killed when attackers drove a vehicle into their camp and exploded it as the troops were offloading supplies on Sunday. Somalia's radical Shebab militia claimed responsibility. "The toll in yesterday's suicide attack in Mogadishu has worsened", said Colonel Adolphe Manirakiza. "Up to now, we count 11 soldiers killed and 15 others wounded. Five seriously wounded soldiers succumbed to their wounds", he said, adding the soldiers had been evacuated to Nairobi for treatment. Since deploying to the war-ripen Somali capital in March 2007, the forces have repeatedly come under attack and Sunday's ambush brings to 20 the number of peacekeepers killed thus far.

In a statement, the Burundi government condemned the "barbaric attack against its contingent which deployed to this country in the interest of the Somali people and to seek peace. Attacks by these evil forces will not deter Burundi or the African Union to help Somalis. We will reinforce our contingent with material and personnel". The AU has also condemned the attack, the deadliest against the forces since their deployment, and said it will not deter its drive to help Somalia. The 3 400-strong AU force in Somalia is made up of Burundi and Ugandan troops and is significantly shy of its full planned strength of 8 000. As well as being under-manned, the AU mission's effectiveness has been hampered by under-funding and lack of equipment as Somalia's civil war, dating back to 1991, drags on.

It is also the only foreign force left in the war-torn Horn of African country after Ethiopian troops withdrew last month after a two-year, ill-fated invasion. Their pull-out sparked security fears in Somalia which has lacked a central authority since plunging into conflict with the 1991 ouster of president Mohamed Siad Barre. The Shebab, who had carried out relentless attacks against the Ethiopians, recently called on its fighters to intensify their holy war against the AU peacekeepers whom they describe as invaders and crusaders. They have also rejected the government of President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, a moderate Islamist opposition leader elected the country's leader on January 31. Sunday's attack was the second on the Burundian base in the space of a few days. The previous attack left one civilian dead and two wounded, but caused no casualties among the AU troops.

Although fighters allied to President Ahmed took key road blocks in Mogadishu last week, the Shebab still retain some positions in the seaside city and continue their guerrilla attacks against their rivals. Somalia had enjoyed a relative lull in clashes since the president's election. Earlier on Wednesday the AU bloc had said that only one African Union peacekeeper was killed in Somalia's war-wracked capital, condemning it as a "cowardly act". The soldier from the AU's Burundian contingent was killed Tuesday in Mogadishu by unidentified armed attackers, it said in a statement, but did not say how he died. AU commission chief Jean Ping "strongly condemns the killing... of a soldier from the Burundian contingent of the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM)", the statement said. "This cowardly act, perpetrated by armed elements bent on undermining the peace and reconciliation process, will in no way deter the AU from pursuing its efforts and support to the Somali people and parties in their quest for lasting peace and reconciliation". The AU peacekeepers are the sole foreign force in Somalia after the pullout of Ethiopian soldiers earlier this year following an ill-fated two-year intervention.

The AU soldiers have been repeatedly targeted by hard-line Islamist militia in Mogadishu. In February, 11 Burundian soldiers were killed in the deadliest single attack against the force in the war-ripen Somali capital. In a meeting with foreign correspondents in Nairobi the AU commission's Special Representative for Somalia, Nicolas Bwakira, said on Tuesday evening the AU was making gains in providing more security and that around 10,000 Somali para-military and police forces would now be trained to be stationed in Mogadishu. Based on the question, if it would not be better that the AU troops leave and thereby also allow funds to be freed to directly finance the Somali Government to establish its own security forces and coastguard, the representative answered, that this would be no option, since Somali governmental security forces would need to be equipped with weapons and structures superior to those of the insurgents. His aide Fred Ngoga added that Al-Shabaab would only be a franchise and the AU had observed the groups to falter.

Article Source: http://www.afroarticles.com/article-dashboard

About The Author: Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis - is Orientalist, Assyriologist, Egyptologist, Iranologist, Islamologist, Historian and Political Scientist. Dr. Megalommatis, 52, is the author of 12 books, dozens of scholarly articles, hundreds of encyclopedia entries, and thousands of articles. He speaks, reads and writes more than 15, modern and ancient, languages.

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