Immoral, Cynical Sheikh Sharif Turns Somalia to Bloodbath, Serving Only the Somalis´ Worst Enemies
Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis
May 24, 2009
On this subject I will further expand in several forthcoming articles but here I publish an overview of recent events, comments and analyses that is made available in the 2009-05-19 23h55:07 UTC Ecoterra press release.
Ecoterra Intl. – SMCM (Somali Marine & Coastal Monitor) - 2009-05-19 23h55:07 UTC
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
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)
Clearing-house
News from sea-jackings, abductions or newly attacked ships --------
The German-owned cargo ship MV PATRIOT with 17 mostly Ukrainian crew members including a Polish captain has been released, Germany's Foreign Ministry finally confirmed only Tuesday. A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman told AP in Berlin that the Maltese-flagged MV Patriot was released already Friday and that no Germans were on board. She spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity, citing department policy, and said she could offer no further details. Pirates captured the Maltese-flagged MV PATRIOT on 25th April in the Gulf of Aden about 150 nautical miles (280 kilometers) southeast of the coastal Yemeni city of Al-Mukalla.
Local reports spoke already over the weekend that a ransom had been received by the pirates and the vessel owned by PATRIOT SCHIFFAHRTS GmbH of Germany with all crew unharmed was released near Eyl. Why the German authorities did not inform the public earlier remains unknown, but with more and more secrecy covering the operations of naval forces in the waters around the Horn of Africa it is feared that not only many armed interactions go unreported, where Somalis are killed and others get wounded and are hidden away in hospitals without informing their kin, but now even releases of merchant ships are kept hidden from the media and the public eye. Likewise the concerned seafarers are often whisked away and/or contracted to silence about the truth of their experience. The sick games around the Horn of Africa become more and more hidden and thereby deadly, because voices of reason can no longer interfere in many cases. It will only be a question of time until something so serious will happen that it can no longer be brushed under the carpet of state secrecy (or is it sea-crazy?) - and one has the feeling that it is actually such an incident which is wished for in order to get the agenda of total mobilization through, which also the last meeting of nations - for good reasons - did not approve. Transparency as pre-requisite in conflict resolution can only be achieved if transparency is provided for by all sides in a conflict.
Yemen will start investigating 12 Somali pirates accused of hijacking one of its cargo ships and killing one crew member in the Gulf of Aden late last month. Other five crew members went missing before Yemen's navy- after having failed in the first instance - stormed the ship on the second day and arrested the 12 pirates alive on April 26, while having killed four Somali men in the whole incident. The Somalis also face charges related to an attempted taking over of three other Yemeni ships as well as "countering Yemeni forces and hindering them from doing their job", the charge sheet reads. The State Security Court was provided with the file on Tuesday by prosecutors in Mukalla, the city from where the ship sailed towards the port city of Aden, a judicial source said. The National Coast Guard announced last month Somali pirates had attempted to seize four Yemeni ships. Marine troops foiled attacks against three of the ships while the pirates could hijack the fourth one, the empty oil tanker MT QANA.
After the storming of the vessel, the authorities said five of the crew members of the tanker were missing. Apparently the sailors jumped overboard, when the Yemeni forces started to fire relentlessly. One Indian crew member was also injured in the attack. The vessel had a 23 men strong crew, of which three were Indian and the rest Yemenis. Two of the missing crew members were rescued later by a Saudi vessel and a third one was rescued by a Yemeni ship. Days later, fishermen in Aden found a body which the police identified as of one of those crew members, who were reported missing. The fifth one is still missing. In April, the Yemeni authorities finally started a trial for another lot of 12 suspected Somali pirates who were arrested in 2008 by Indian Naval Forces patrolling the Indian Ocean and had handed them over to Yemen.
With the latest captures and releases now still at least 15 foreign vessels (16 with an unnamed sole Barge which drifted ashore, possibly 18 with two further yachts counted in) with a total of not less than 210 crew members accounted for (of which 59 are confirmed to be Filipinos) 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 116 attacks (incl. averted or abandoned attacks) with 36 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
Somali official warns pirates may become warlords, reports AP.
Hijacking ships for ransom off the coast of Somalia has made rich men of many pirates who could become the strife-ridden African country's new warlords, a Somali official said Tuesday.
The stark warning delivered at an international piracy conference adds urgency to the fight against the pirates who have emerged as the biggest threat to global merchant shipping.
This year alone bandits operating in and around the Gulf of Aden have attacked 81 ships, hijacking 29 of them. A German-owned ship was released last week, Germany's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday, but pirates are still holding more than a dozen vessels and hundreds of crew, mainly in the semiautonomous Puntland region of Somalia.
With most attacks ending with million-dollar ransom payouts, piracy is considered the biggest moneymaker in Somalia, which has had no stable government since warlords overthrew the country's longtime dictator in 1991. Maritime experts have said pirates raked in up to $30 million in ransoms last year alone.
Abdul Wahid Mohamad, director of Puntland's fisheries ministry, told the conference that more than 1,000 Somalis, mostly former fishermen, are believed to be involved in sea piracy, and the number is growing.
"There are growing indications that wealthier pirates ... may become new warlords and create extremist organizations" that could further destabilize the lawless east African nation, he warned.
He did not elaborate, but called for international efforts to help stamp out the threat, including by setting up a Somali coast guard.
"We need to establish a well equipped, trained coast guard to prevent pirate boats before they go into deep sea," he said, speaking in English. "Pirates can be apprehended best while they are still on ground and preparing for expedition".
Senior U.S. and European officials echoed the call for efforts to move beyond naval action.
"The solution to piracy is a stable Somalia. As long as there is no rule of law, we can only try to mitigate the problem but not eliminate it", said Capt. Chris Chambers, director of the multinational naval force based in Bahrain.
An international naval force is currently patrolling the Gulf of Aden, used by some 20,000 cargo ships a year, and parts of Indian Ocean near Somalia. It has prevented a few attacks, but experts agree that it is impossible to police the vast sea.
Capt. Christophe Pipolo, a security adviser in France's Foreign Ministry, called for reforming Somalia's fishing sector to improve the livelihood of poor local fishermen to prevent them from joining the pirates.
Many Somali pirates began their careers guarding their shores against foreign trawlers taking advantage of the civil war to illegally fish its waters, devastating the livelihoods of its fishermen.
When the international community did nothing, the fishermen became pirates after discovering that taking hostages was so fruitful.
"The answer is neither at sea or military but on land", Pipolo told the conference.
Alleged Pirate Indicted in NYC Court
The sole surviving suspect from an attack on an American cargo ship off the Somali coast has been indicted on piracy charges.
He has been jailed in Manhattan since he was brought to the U.S. of America.
The suspect, Abduwali Abdulkhadir Muse, was charged in the grand jury indictment with "piracy as defined by the law of nations" in international waters off Somalia. The 10 count indictment, released by the federal prosecutor's office, also included charges of armed hijacking and holding hostage for ransom. Muse is due to be arraigned before Judge Loretta A. Preska in United States District Court in Manhattan on Thursday. Any trial would seem to be many months away, prosecutors said.
The teenager, injured by one of the crew, gave himself up to U.S.-American naval forces last month before the end of a high-seas drama in which US forces killed three Somalis holding hostage the captain of the merchant ship Maersk ALABAMA.
They had earlier attempted to take control of the US-flagged ship but retreated to a lifeboat with the captain, Richard Phillips.
Before the deadly rescue operation, which freed Phillips unharmed, Muse had gone aboard the naval ship USS Bainbridge, apparently also to negotiate. After being flown to New York he was charged on April 22 as an adult. But Judge Andrew Peck rejected a claim by the defendant's father that Muse was only 15 years old. Prosecutors said he was over 18.
He faces life in prison if found guilty.
U.S. prosecutors have portrayed him as the ringleader of the band of pirates.
The FBI says Muse was the first pirate to board the boat as it was about 280 miles off the Somali coast. He and others held the captain hostage until Navy sharpshooters killed three other suspects.
The 18-year-old Muse wept when his lawyers failed last month to convince a federal judge he was only 15 and should be tried as a juvenile. When Mr. Muse was first charged in April, the office of Lev L. Dassin, the acting United States attorney for the Southern District, said that he was over 18 years old.
But Mr. Muse´s lawyers argued that he was under 18, and should be treated as a juvenile, which would include closing court proceedings to the public and to the news media.
A federal magistrate judge, Andrew J. Peck, held a closed hearing and took testimony from Mr. Muse´s father through a telephone hook up in Somalia, and an interpreter. The father said his son was born on Nov. 20, 1993, which would make him 15 years old.
But a New York police detective, who had traveled to Africa as part of the team investigating the incident, told Judge Peck that Mr. Muse, after giving varying ages, acknowledged that he was "between 18 and 19"
The detective, Frederick Galloway, testified that Mr. Muse had apologized for lying. "He said, ´When I pray again, I´ll ask Allah to forgive me for lying to you, and I won´t lie to you again´", the detective said.
Judge Peck ruled that Muse would be prosecuted as an adult. Mr. Muse is being held without bond in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Lower Manhattan. If convicted of the piracy count, he faces a mandatory life sentence, the authorities said.
CBS 2 HD asked one of his court-appointed attorneys what he saw when he looked at his new client.
"A young scared kid in pain", attorney Phil Weiss said, CBS reported, "I don't know whether he's a pirate or not. You asked me what I saw, that's what I saw".
FBI agent Steven Sorrell testified during hearings, though, that Muse was the first pirate to board the attacked cargo ship.
"From the deck of the MAERSK ALABAMA", he wrote, "Muse fired his gun at the captain who was still on the bridge". The young man, he said, "conducted himself as the leader of the pirates".
Muse was conducting negotiations on a navy ship when three sharpshooters killed the others holding Capt. Richard Phillips hostage on a lifeboat.
In addition to piracy, Muse was charged with conspiracy to seize a ship by force; discharging a firearm; aiding and abetting the discharge of a firearm during a conspiracy to seize a ship by force; conspiracy to commit hostage taking; and brandishing a firearm.
So whether he's 16 or 18 or older, Muse is staring a life in prison if convicted.
Questions of age aside, the defense is now focusing on mitigating circumstances that might have lead up to the MAERSK ALABAMA drama, insisting that like the captain and crew of the ship the suspect is a victim of the chaos in Somalia.
One of Mr. Muse´s lawyers, Philip L. Weinstein, a federal public defender, had no comment except to say that his client would enter a plea of not guilty.
It's the lawless land of warlords, gangs and searing poverty mad infamous in "Blackhawk Down". Muse's mother told The Associated Press by phone that her son was pressured into becoming a pirate which could offer some legal insulation for him.
"Somalia is at war and if he was himself taken hostage by pirates or any of his actions had to do with he himself taken kidnapped and taken hostage then he would be subject to those protections", the second defense attorney Dierdre Von Dornum said.
The Canadian Press highlights what was going on with privateers and pirates among he French and the Brits in the past, while we actually write the year 1430 in Somalia today.
Pirates who plied North American coast highlighted in Montreal show
Ahoy, mateys! Pirates are prowling the Pointe-a-Calliere museum in Old Montreal.
But don't be afraid. The sabres and muskets are all in glass cases, Jack the Parrott is stuffed and there's nary a hooked hand in sight. "People don't know that pirates and privateers are part of our history in Canada", says Christine Conciatori, the project manager for the "Pirates, Privateers and Freebooters" exhibit, which runs from Wednesday to Jan. 3.
"We thought this is the perfect subject for the summer".
Pirates are in the news these days for their clashes with NATO ships off the coast of Somalia, dodging warning shots from heavy-calibre machine-guns.
But from the 16th to 18th centuries, pirates and privateers plied the waters of the Caribbean and the eastern seaboard of North America, raiding settlements and looking for treasure-laden ships.
While pirates were outlaws, privateers were hired by governments to attack enemy ships in the colonies because their regular navies were engaged in European battles.
"We would mainly have privateers here", Conciatori said.
The skull-and-crossbones pirate flag fluttered in the St. Lawrence River among other places in what would become Canada in 1867.
Four people were even hanged in Canada's last piracy trial after mutineers were nabbed in 1844 for seizing the ship Saladin. One of the ship's strongboxes is part of the exhibit.
Among the renowned privateers was Montreal-born Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, who became famous for his raids on the British. Tapped to help rout the British from Newfoundland and Labrador, he destroyed 36 settlements flying the Union Jack in four months in 1695.
"The story of piracy in the New World is a fascinating subject", says Francine Lelievre, the museum's executive director. "The exhibition is bound to delight visitors of all ages and appeal to their imaginations. These mesmerizing tales of pirates, privateers and freebooters speak to the child in all of us".
Conciatori says the museum wanted to create a show for the whole family that would combine history, adventure and fantasy. It's an interactive exhibit and even has a section where just the push of a button elicits a little whiff of sea air and other smells.
"We want people to live an adventure, not just to stay passive and look at something but be part of the history and be part of the exhibition", she said. The artifacts in the museum collection are complemented by items from other Quebec museums as well as from institutions in Ottawa and Halifax as well as from Paris' national maritime museum.
Conciatori said the exhibit managed to bring together some spectacular pieces to tell its story, including two ship figureheads, one from the 17th century and the other from the 18th century.
"These are not objects that we usually see every day", she said. "We have some surgery instruments from the 18th century that can be quite scary to look at and we have all kinds of guns - cannons, blunderbuss - all kinds of swords".
The exhibit, which is set up on a mock-up of a pirate ship deck, also gives a good look at how pirates lived in the cramped quarters of their vessels, displaying an array of cooking implements and medical instruments.
There's even a few turtles and stuffed monkeys peering from the display cases.
"Exotic animals were part of their loot", Conciatori explained, noting that pirates knew there was a market for such pets among many rich Europeans. "They could sell them".
Conciatori says organizers didn't really think about the resurgence of piracy in the news when the exhibit was being planned but she agreed it gives the show added relevance.
"It's not just a historical subject", she said. "It's something that is still going on today".
Marine ecosystem and IUU fishing
Yemeni fishermen and fish exporters face a lot of problems including kidnapping, piracy and fish exports not being allowed into Saudi markets. The country has seen a fall in fish production over the last few years. Despite the conflicting statistics of the Ministry of Fisheries about Yemen´s exports of fish products, the contribution of this sector is still limited and does not exceed 1.7 percent of the total exports. According to the ministry, fish production of 2008 dropped to 127,000 tons, from 256,000 tons in 2004 and 230,000 tons during 2005 and 2006. It fell to 180,000 tons in 2007. The Yemen analysts seem not to realize that the drop in the catch is also linked to the drop in fish-stocks, when only fish marketing experts admit that there are several challenges facing the fish exports.
These challenges include outdated traditional fishing equipment and poor quality in processing as well as no encouragement for the private sector to invest in this field. But more importantly it must be noted that there is no legislations to regulate fishing and there are no direct transport means, which together with high prices of spare parts and the tough competition from countries like Oman, Sri Lanka and Indonesia contribute to the limited success of the sector.. Ali Al-Hibshi, the Secretary General of the Yemeni Association of Fish Exporters, revealed that piracy poses a high risk on local fish production, noting that Yemeni fishermen face a lot of risks while in the open seas, though he did not mention that many Yemeni fishing vessels venture illegally into Somali waters and take the risk. Al-Hibshi added that the global recession had hit some European and Chinese markets, which has reduced the demand for the relatively expensive Yemeni fish, stressing that there should be a real partnership between the different stakeholders including the Ministry of Fisheries, the private sector companies and fishing societies represented in the Fish Cooperative Union.
The vision of the Yemeni Association for the Development of the Fisheries Sector apparently still gives more attention to traditional fishing then to raising the production for export, he said and he called for improving the traditional fishing means - especially the fishing boats - as well as expanding fishing activities through modern methods financed by easy loans from the Fish and Agriculture Promotion Fund. The paper presented by the General Manager of quality control at the Ministry of Fisheries, Jalal Makhawi, did focus on the importance of regulating the sales at the markets and banning the exports of fish consumed locally. He also called for the rehabilitation of the local markets without giving much consideration to the role of the private sector companies. However, the ministry´s efforts concentrate on regulating exports through specific centres and on binding exporters to transport and handling standards as this could help to reduce the problems the Yemeni exporters face.
The Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Export Promotion, Noman Al-Molsi exposed the poor quality of production by traditional fishing boats as well as the difficulties connected with the international marketing, especially the difficulties of air transport, the high costs of sea transport and the lack of information about the international markets. It was also noted that the Yemeni exporters do not participate in international exhibitions and the fact that there are no mechanisms for finance and granting credits in the fisheries sector. The solutions, proposed by Al-Molsi, include developing the traditional fishing means, building the capacities and training employees for export-production as well as regulating exports with neighboring countries by expanding partnerships between the different stakeholders. Yemeni statistics reveal that 105,000 tons of fish were exported in 2008 and they were sold at $ 234 million.
In this regard, an international consultant noted that there is a wide gap between the private and public sectors and recommended modernizing fishing vessels, providing them with refrigerators, developing landing sites and equipping the handling and packing facilities. The Executive Director of the World Trade Center Stephen Brown called on the government to enhance the promotion of fish exports, stressing that Yemen is in need for trade support schemes and institutions as well as real partnership between both private and public sectors. Mohammed Al-Eryani, a member of the Fish Exporters Association, mentioned that Yemeni fish is cheaper in Europe than in Yemen, emphasizing that the problem lies in the monopoly of fish associations for the fish landing centers. Al-Eryani maintained that the $100 million revenues of oil exports have not improved the lives of the actual fishermen because they are exploited by the people at the landing centers. "The improved efforts of fishermen should be reflected in their living standard and way of life". He went on to say that the Yemeni consumer should get high quality fish products because he pays larger sums, hinting that fish is thrown in landing centers without even ice to keep them fresh.
Anti-piracy operations
UN just "invited to consider", while anti-piracy body backs off on international anti-piracy force
One third of the world's nations are set to call for the United Nations to establish an international force to combat piracy off Somalia. A draft of statement from the Kuala Lumpur International Conference on Piracy and Crimes at Sea said the meeting had agreed that, "the United Nations is invited to consider the establishment of an international maritime force to suppress acts of piracy and armed robbery off the coast of Somalia", reports Lloyd's List. The meeting organised by the Malaysian government was attended by delegations from 66 countries from across the globe, as well as a delegation from the European Union and the International Maritime Organization. The government of Malaysia was called upon to transmit the statement to the UN, IMO and other appropriate international organisations.
The statement also called for an improved international legal framework under which to prosecute pirates. "Efforts should be undertaken to improve the international legal framework to ensure its effectiveness in addressing piracy and armed robbery against ships", it said. On a number of occasions where pirates have been captured by naval forces deployed off Somalia they have been set free again due to the lack of legal jurisdiction to prosecute them. There was also call to tackle the root causes of piracy in Somalia, which lie on land in the strife torn country — not at sea. "Empowering the Somali people and enhancing the socio-economic fabric of Somalia must be undertaken to ensure a lasting solution to the problem", the statement said. With the five-page Chairman's Statement the participating countries outlined measures such as empowering the authorities and Somali people and enhancing the socio-economic fabric of Somalia. The conference noted the view that continuous efforts were being undertaken to enhance cooperation among states, in particular, consultations among the littoral states in addressing the menace off the coast of Somalia, in finding a lasting solution to the problem. Another view noted was that the primary responsibility with regard to piracy and armed robbery against ships remained with the littoral states and therefore, international efforts towards assisting these states to build their capacities to handle the problem were of utmost importance.
Also noted was that further efforts to increase cooperation among states and other stakeholders in tackling the problem should be welcomed, while respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of littoral states. The director-general of Malaysia's Foreign Ministry's Research, Treaties and International Law Department, Datuk Noor Farida Ariffin said the views noted were expressed during the conference but did not bind anybody. At the end the conference on Tuesday backed off from issuing tough proposals and from calling for an international naval taskforce to be set up under U.N. auspices to fight Somali pirates after members disagreed over implementation. The initial resolution from more than 60 countries and the European Union was watered down.
"The United Nations is invited to consider further the possibility of taking joint measures through the contact group on piracy off the coast of Somalia and its working groups to coordinate maritime force operations to suppress acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships off the coast of Somalia", the final statement said. That was far weaker than a draft statement, seen by Reuters, that called for the United Nations to consider "the establishment of an international maritime force to suppress acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships off the coast of Somalia". A senior maritime official who attended the conference said: "Asking for the formation of an international maritime force has legal and political ramifications". Many states realize already that the provisions the maritime falcons request for actually could backfire and soon infringe seriously on their own sovereignty. "We are going forward too fast", the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. While some navies have opted for aggressive action, like the US, who killed three pirate-boys in a hostage situation, India, who blew a sea-jacked fishing vessel out of the water together with its crew and the French, who even killed one French hostage, others like the Canadians and Portuguese intercepted pirates and released them after confiscating their weapons.
But it is also clear that it is not illegal to carry weapons in international waters and arrests cannot be made unless there is evidence of piracy. European Union human rights laws guarantee all people including pirates respect for their basic rights. "The European Union human rights laws are a particular problem", said Geoffrey Till, Professor of Maritime Studies at King's College in London, as reported by Reuters. Richard Farrington, Chief of Staff of European Naval forces, told the conference there are now 25 warships from the European Union, China, the United States and Japan patrolling 2.5 million square miles of waters off the coast of Somalia. "We need 60 (vessels) in the Gulf of Aden and another 150 in the Somali basin", Farrington said.
But though the EU has already now not enough naval vessels - EU nations on Tuesday agreed to greatly extend their anti-piracy naval operations against Somali pirates as far as the Seychelles, European diplomats said.
"Representatives of the 27 (EU nations) in the Political and Security Committee reached agreement on the extension of the Atalanta intervention zone as far as the Seychelles", one diplomat told AFP. Naval ships from the European Union's Atalanta operation along with NATO and other US-led coalitions have thwarted several pirate attacks in recent days, either preventing hijackings or capturing suspected pirates. Some 20 foreign warships patrol the waters off the coast of Somalia -- on one of the globe's busiest maritime trade routes -- on any given day. With foreign navies focusing their efforts on the Gulf of Aden, a key convergence point for maritime traffic and a large proportion of the world's oil supplies, ransom-hungry pirates have hunted their prey some seven hundred nautical miles into the Indian Ocean from southern Somalia eastwards to the Seychelles archipelago. "The Atalanta patrol zone will be made a quarter bigger", the diplomat said. "The operational plan has been modified to encompass the Seychelles archipelago", which has been out of bounds up to now, another diplomat said.
The initiative received enthusiastic support at a meeting of EU defence ministers in Brussels on Monday, though details such as which countries will send extra ships and planes to reinforce the EU's current Atalanta operation were not hammered out. There was unanimity "to extend the coverage up to the Seychelles, to reinforce the capacity of the air and naval patrols, which have already had good results, and prolong the duration of its operations", beyond the current December mandate, Spanish Defence Minister Carme Chacon said after that meeting. There was still no announcement Tuesday as to where these extra naval resources would come from, although the EU decision takes immediate effect. At the moment the EU flotilla is made up of German, Swedish, Spanish, French, Greek and Italian navy ships. Other EU nations, such as Belgium, the Netherlands and Romania and non-members Norway and Switzerland are expected to contribute to the expanded Atalanta operation. As to its prolongation beyond the current mid-December mandate, Swedish Defence Minister Sten Tolgfors, whose country will assume the rotating EU presidency in July, voiced support. "I remain very open to that should the mandate be prolonged", he said. "We have to wait for the mid-term report in June", he said, while adding "few believe that the problem will have disappear by then".
No real peace yet
In Somalia, Another Government Teetering? asks Alex Perry in TIME.com and elaborates:
Just last month, Western donors gathered in Brussels to pledge money to the new Somali government of Sheik Sharif Ahmed, in the hope that he could restore order and put an end to the offshore piracy that has plagued shipping off his country's coastline. But renewed fighting in and around Mogadishu has raised fears that Somalia's 15th government in 18 years is about to fail. Sharif was named President only in January, and it was hoped that as an Islamist committed to restoration of law and order and political dialogue, he might do better than his predecessors at uniting Somalis behind a central administration and bridging the divide between militant Islam and the secular West. That was before the return to Somalia of Sharif's erstwhile Islamist comrade, Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys.
Sheik Aweys had led the Islamist Courts Union (ICU) with Sharif when it briefly ruled Mogadishu in 2006 and had established the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia to expel the Ethiopian troops who had invaded and toppled the Islamists in late 2006. But Aweys brands Sharif a traitor for his more moderate stance and his dependence for security on 3,400 foreign African Union peacekeeping troops. Since Aweys' return a little more than a month ago as head of a new group calling itself Hizbul Islam, hard-line Islamist rebels known as al-Shabaab have made steady gains across the country against forces loyal to Sharif.
After some fierce street fighting in Mogadishu last week that killed more than 100, al-Shabaab on Sunday took the town of Jowhar, just north of the capital, and on Monday the nearby town of Mahaday. Sources inside Mogadishu report that Sharif now controls little more than a small patch of territory near the center of the city, although, crucially, his forces also still hold the port. (See pictures of Somali piracy.)
Analysts and observers differ on the extent of peril facing the new government. Mogadishu has not known peace since the demise of the last national government in 1991 — and a period of relative calm during the six months when the ICU controlled the city — and it is plagued by a Byzantine maze of miniwars between clan militias that often control as little as a single building. In that context, an eruption of more fighting is often merely a sign that the bloody stalemate continues as usual. A diplomat in Nairobi suggested that while Sharif's forces were short of ammunition, the President was confident he had sufficient forces to survive al-Shabaab's attacks. But others believed there was a real possibility Sharif might be defeated. "He's taking a real beating", said an observer.
"We're wondering whether he's going to be pushed into the sea". The BBC reported Tuesday that eyewitnesses in Somalia claimed that Ethiopian troops had re-entered Somalia, just months after their departure, but these claims were vigorously denied by the Ethiopian government. (See pictures of April's dramatic pirate-hostage rescue.)
The Pirates of Somalia
The fate of Sharif's government is closely tied to efforts to suppress piracy in and around the Gulf of Aden, but Somalia has also long served as a battlefield for regional rivalries. Last week the U.S. accused Eritrea of being behind the latest upsurge in violence in Somalia — the U.N. has previously accused Eritrea of supplying vast amounts of weapons to hard-line Somali Islamists as part of a proxy war against its nemesis Ethiopia, whose intervention in Somalia was backed by the U.S. The Somali Islamists in 2006 declared a jihad against Ethiopia, while the U.S. says al-Shabaab has links to al-Qaeda and is sheltering the surviving member of a cell that bombed U.S. embassies in East Africa in 1998. Osama bin Laden, for his part, has repeatedly backed al-Shabaab, which the U.N. says is reinforced by some 280 to 300 foreign jihadist fighters. Those fighters are attracted both by the chance to live under the strict Shari'a law imposed by the Shabaab and by the opportunity to fight the Americans, who have bombed Islamist forces on several occasions since 2006 and are believed to have undertaken several covert missions on the ground.
The fighting has hampered the relief effort to ease the effects of a punishing drought, meaning that whatever its outcome, the losers will likely be the estimated 3.2 million Somalis dependent on food aid.
Ethiopia Back in Somalia? asks John Boonstra and provides an analysis:
Reports are emerging that Ethiopian troops have incurred (again) on Ethiopian territory. If the rumors are true -- and I don't doubt that it's hard to
know for certain in this ambiguous border area -- then it goes without saying that an(other) Ethiopian invasion of Somalia would be even worse for the country's prospects than a premature UN peacekeeping mission (which, fortunately, still does not seem popular in the Security Council; even the countries that are now willing to actually provide some troops are urging restraint).
I see a number of possibilities here. Ethiopian troops might not actually be in Somalia -- or, more likely, at least not invading. Ethiopia, naturally, denies the reports. Under this scenario, either Somali observers would have to have been over-eager to spot Ethiopian soldiers (possible, but a stretch), or the Somali state media has some interest in raising the possibility of Ethiopian invasion. This would be curious, because while practically any Somali political group could attempt to stoke its popularity by calling out the much-disliked Ethiopian military, this kind of scaremongering tactic seems to befit the al-Shabab militants more than it does the Somali government. Not even the presence of foreign peacekeepers would galvanize the extremist al-Shabab cause than a renewed war with Ethiopia.
More probably, however, some Ethiopian troops have flitted across the border into Somalia. Remember -- the peace deal under which the Ethiopians withdrew from their two-year occupation stipulated that they could return if they perceived a relevant threat. With al-Shabab forces recently advancing further in Somalia, the point at which Ethiopia deems it necessary to launch another full-scale invasion might be nearing (even an African Union official said he "would not be overly surprised" if this were to happen).
This reading -- that Ethiopian movement is in response to a growing al-Shabab threat -- probably makes the most sense, but we shouldn't forget another player in the region: Eritrea. If Eritrea is indeed funneling arms to al-Shabab, Ethiopia could be acting out of agitation with its neighbor's continued interference. And in this light, the Somali state media attention could be a not-so-subtle message to Eritrea: quit it, or a bigger fish might get involved.
That, or it's just big news.
Scared Somalis running out of food as battles rage
The News
Hundreds of foreigners fighting alongside Somali Islamic insurgents have driven this week´s fierce battles against government forces, which have killed more than 100 people, the UN envoy to Somalia said Friday.
Concern that the government might fall is mounting. Observers fear that if the al-Qaida linked insurgents seize the capital, they will gain a safe haven on the Horn of Africa.
The UN Security Council on Friday condemned the upsurge in fighting and gave strong support to the country´s leaders. A statement approved by all 15 council members demanded that opposition groups immediately end their offensive, renounce violence and join reconciliation efforts.
Somalia´s coastline borders an important sea trade route and the Horn juts into the Indian Ocean just below the oil-rich Arabian peninsula.
The government controls only one major road in the capital, Mogadishu, along with some government installations, with the assistance of about 4,350 African Union troops.
The fighting has frightened even longtime residents of the battle-scarred capital. During a lull Friday, people streamed out of their homes seeking food or safer quarters.
The UN´s envoy to Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdalla, charged Friday that between 280 and 300 foreign fighters were involved last weekend in an attempted coup against President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, a moderate Islamic leader.
"There is no doubt from sources overt and covert that in the attempted coup of last weekend there was significant involvement of foreigners, some from this continent and others from outside this continent", Ould-Abdalla told journalists in neighbouring Kenya.
He said some of the foreigners were mercenaries and others were Islamic ideologues.
The African Union is concerned about the deepening influence of foreign fighters in Somalia´s insurgency, said Nicolas Bwakira, the African Union envoy to Somalia. He said that there are up to 400 foreign fighters in the Horn of Africa country.
"It would be unacceptable that the Shabab, al-Qaida, takes over the government in Somalia. This is a group of war criminals", said Bwakira, referring to a Somali extremist Islamic group that is fighting the government. The U.S. State Department considers al-Shabab a terrorist organization with links to al-Qaida, something the group denies.
Ould-Abdalla said he has offered to help Somalia´s hard line Islamic leaders remove their names from a UN Security Council list of terrorists if they will work for peace.
"It is not in killing their own people that they will solve this problem", Ould-Abdalla said, referring to the terrorist designation. "On the contrary".
One on the UN list is hard line leader Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, leader of a faction of the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia. The leader of the other faction is Somalia´s current president, the more moderate Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed.
Aweys has been based in the Eritrean capital, Asmara, since the umbrella Islamic group he led with Ahmed was ousted from Mogadishu and southern Somalia in 2006 by Ethiopian troops.
Ahmed returned to Mogadishu as president in February — and Ethiopia withdrew its troops from Somalia — under a deal mediated by Ould-Abdalla. Aweys returned to Mogadishu in April, saying he wanted the African Union force out of Somalia, as well.
Range Resources Ltd, the company operating in Puntland, which was controversially mentioned in several reports, notes, in its recent Quarterly Report, that its joint venture partner on the two onshore Puntland blocks, Africa Oil, is in the process of finalising arrangements for rig mobilisation and drilling of the first well in Puntland (and greater Somalia) for over 16 years.
Impacting reports from the global village
German Defence Minister Dr. Franz Josef Jung received on May 19, 2009 a Chinese delegation under the leadership of Vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China, General Guo Boxiong, in the Bendlerblock (location of the Ministry of Defence) in Berlin. The Chinese delegation visits Berlin in the course of a travel to a number of European countries lasting several days. After a reception with military honours a delegation talks were held in the Ministry of Defence. The talks focused on the bilateral relationship of the two countries, the struggle against piracy at the Horn of Africa, as well as the security situation in Northern and Eastern Asia. Since January 2009 China participates with two warships and a supply ship in the fight against Piracy off the coast of Somalia. Both parties generally expressed to support a stronger coordination between China and the EU lead mission "Atalanta" (defpro).
CIA Director Leon Panetta
Global Viewpoint
CIA Director Leon Panetta: Israel Will Not Go It Alone and Attack Iran Nuclear Facilities; Drone Attacks in Pakistan 'Only Game in Town' to Disrupt al-Qaida; Pakistan's Nukes Are Secure
Leon Panetta is the director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. He took a break from touring California's high-tech satellite and missile plants to sit down with Global Viewpoint editor Nathan Gardels and other members of the Pacific Council on International Policy on Monday, May 18.
Q. You recently returned from visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to warn him not to attack Iran's nuclear facilities without consulting with the U.S., which is trying to engage Iran diplomatically. Do you feel assured that Netanyahu will not attack Iran?
A. Yes. The Israelis are obviously concerned about Iran and focused on it. But he understands that if Israel goes it alone, it will mean big trouble. He knows that for the sake of Israeli security, they have to work together with others.
Q. What are the CIA's priorities under the Obama administration?
A. Counterterrorism is the CIA's primary mission. Al-Qaida remains the most serious security threat to America and to our allies overseas.
Their leaders in Pakistan continue to plot against us. Their affiliates and followers in Iraq, north and east Africa, and the Arabian Peninsula continue to work to develop plans that threaten this country and our ability to survive. The CIA's primary objective is, therefore, to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-Qaida. That is the mission.
Serious pressures have been brought to bear on al-Qaida's leaders in Pakistan's tribal areas. There is ample evidence that our strategy is in fact working. We do not expect to let up on that strategy. I'm convinced that our efforts are seriously disrupting every operation that al-Qaida is trying to conduct; it is interfering with their ability to establish plans to come at this country.
One measure of our success is that al-Qaida is seeking shelter elsewhere. One of the dangers we confront is the fact that, as we disrupt their operations in Pakistan, they will seek other safe havens. Today, Somalia and Yemen are potential safe havens for al-Qaida in the future.
As crucial as disrupting the senior leadership based in Pakistan is, we know it alone will not eliminate the danger. For that reason, our goal is to pursue al-Qaida to every hiding place and work for their destruction, including in the present war zones.
As the U.S. draws down on the military side in Iraq, we will increase our intelligence presence there to help Iraq establish stability. The threat there is not only of terrorism but resurgent sectarianism as well. Al-Qaida has lately moved principally to the area of Mosul, where we are now focusing.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban insurgency is spreading. In a country with weak political institutions and a failed economy, stabilizing the situation requires not only a military surge but an intelligence surge as well. Hard as well as soft power -- civilian aid and assistance -- must be applied if we are going to have a chance to create stability.
The threat posed by Iran has our full attention. Iran is a destabilizing force in the Middle East. Even though the administration is moving toward diplomatic engagement with that country, no one is naive about the challenges. Iran aspires to be the pre-eminent power in the area through its nuclear program, meddling in Iraq, through its relations with Syria and through its support of Hamas and Hezbollah.
The judgment of the U.S. intelligence community is that Iran, at a minimum, is keeping open the option to develop deliverable nuclear weapons. It is our judgment that Iran halted weaponization in 2003, but it continues to develop uranium enrichment technology and nuclear-capable ballistic missiles.
Assessing Iran's intentions is therefore a top priority. It is not an easy intelligence target. Our main focus is getting an accurate picture of its capabilities.
While the Iranian nuclear program in and of itself is cause for significant concern, there is also a real risk that if Iran goes nuclear, other countries in the region will be tempted to follow suit. The last thing we need in the Middle East is a nuclear arms race.
Similarly, we are trying to assess North Korea's nuclear-weapons program and its long-range missile capabilities. The fact that they will sell technology and expertise to anyone willing to pay is a very serious concern. Like Iran, North Korea is a tough intelligence target, but we are making good progress. For example, we knew -- within the time frame of an hour -- when they were going to test their Taepodong missile recently.
Especially given Kim Jong-il's health problems and issues of succession, North Korea remains one of the most difficult and unpredictable threats in that part of the world.
Finally, there are many in the U.S. Congress today who want to focus on the past (on what happened during the Bush administration). I don't deny the importance of learning the lessons of that period. And as someone who was a member of the U.S. Congress for eight terms, I believe in the oversight role and power of the legislative branch. But in looking at past practices, we have to be very careful we don't forget our responsibilities to the present and the future. We are a nation at war.
We have to confront that reality every day. We cannot therefore examine the past in a way that becomes so politically divisive that it interferes with our capabilities to stay focused on those who would threaten the U.S. today and tomorrow.
What I will say is that, for now and the future, whatever the CIA does it will do so in a way that upholds the Constitution and values that America stands for. I deeply believe, as President Obama does, that we do not have to make a choice between our values and our safety. Our responsibility is not only to protect our shores but to protect a government of, by and for the people.
Q. You say the CIA strategy against al-Qaida and its allies is working in the Pakistan-Afghan border region. Yet, critics, such as David Kilcullen, the counterinsurgency expert who advised Gen. David Petraeus in Iraq, say the strikes by remote drones in the tribal zones have only killed 14 terrorist leaders, while more than 700 civilians have been killed. Isn't this stimulating more anti-Americanism across Pakistan than disrupting al-Qaida?
A. These are covert, secret operations. So I can't go into particulars. Suffice it to say that the operations have been very effective because they have been very precise in terms of hitting targets with a minimum of collateral damage.
Sometimes critics sweep casualties from other less-precise operations, for example F-16 jet strikes, that go into these areas and can cause significant collateral damage. In discussing this, I sometimes find that the numbers are mixed together. But I assure you that in terms of our strategy, it is very precise and very limited in terms of collateral damage. And, very frankly, it is the only game in town in terms of trying to disrupt the al-Qaida leadership.
Q. When he was president of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf said that Pakistan's nuclear assets were more secure than those in the former Soviet Union. Are you satisfied that Pakistan's nukes are safe?
A. With respect to Pakistan's nuclear weapons, we do try to understand where these are located. We don't, frankly, have intelligence about where they are all located. But right now we are confident that the Pakistanis have a pretty secure approach to try to protect these weapons. This is something we will continue to watch very closely.
Obviously, the last thing we want is to for the Taliban someday to have access to Pakistan's nuclear weapons.
Q. Is disrupting al-Qaida's networks enough to establish stability along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border?
A. We cannot win by military means alone. If we are going to develop long-term stability in either Pakistan or Afghanistan, we are going to have to engage the tribal areas. Clearly, what happens is that al-Qaida and their allies feed upon the frustration of people there who feel that they have no opportunity. In the end, it is about education, about food, about personal security.
The reason the Taliban has been successful in the tribal areas is that they go to the people where there is a lot of disruption and say, "We can provide order." That is what hurts us the most. We have to be able to answer people's search for order and security. We can only win if we provide security, jobs, education, sanitation and infrastructure. The surge in Iraq would not have worked if it had not been complemented by NGOs, the State Department, civilian groups and other aid focused on these other aspects.
We have to learn those lessons and apply them in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Q. What does the whole Swat episode tell you about how the Pakistani leadership thinks about the threat of al-Qaida and the Taliban?
A. One of the challenges we face in confronting al-Qaida, the Taliban and other terrorist groups in the tribal areas of Pakistan is making the leaders of Pakistan understand that these groups represent a threat to the stability of their own country.
In Pakistan, the primary focus has always been on the threat from India, not on the tribal zones. Whether it was the British Empire or the succession of Pakistani governments after independence, they both treated the tribal areas like Indian reservations in the U.S. Basically, they left them alone. If they raised hell, you sent the cavalry in to deal with the problem, and then left without paying further attention.
That history is one of the reasons the deal (a truce in exchange for the rule of sharia) in Swat was made.
When I first took over this job, I sat down with the Pakistanis and said, "You have got to take a look at this Swat deal, it is dangerous". They said, "No, this is not like other arrangements. This is different. It won't fall apart". Well it did. I think they learned a lesson.
We have said to the Pakistanis that, "Look, the threat here is not just to the United States and to Afghanistan, it is to Pakistan! They blew up the Marriott Hotel. They are a threat to your security".
If the Pakistanis recognize these groups as a real threat, then we can create the partnership we need. I think they are beginning to. As we speak, there are Pakistani military operations going on against militants in Swat and Buner. The key is not whether they simply bring the tanks in, clear out the Taliban and back out. They have to clear these areas and hold them. That is very important.
After the trilateral summit recently in Washington (with the U.S., Pakistani and Afghan leaders) we are beginning to more efficiently share intelligence. It is working.
I do sense that (Pakistani) President Zardari realizes he has to do more. I understand that they see a threat from India. But if they don't focus on this threat, it will undermine their stability.
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Note
Picture: The liar and the dreamer in Af Somali (language) is called Sheikh Sharif.
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