From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Fri Oct 17 2008 - 16:25:57 EDT
Somalia: US wants to control Gulf of Aden and Somali coasts
Written by: Abdi Guled in Mogadishu and Mohammed Al-Asaadi in Sana
Saturday, October 18, 2008, Mareeg Online
While the international community begins asking questions about the high
level of piracy in the waters off Somalia, close-by Yemen on the other
side of the Gulf of Aden is taking the lead in tackling the scourge of
the seas.
SANA'A, Oct. 10 -Vessels passing through the Gulf of Aden remain
vulnerable to interception by pirates, which poses a serious threat to
international maritime security.
In the first three weeks of September at least eight incidents of piracy
took place in the Gulf of Aden and dozens of crewmen were taken hostage.
On September 21 four pirates in three speedboats boarded a bulk carrier,
hijacking the ship and taking hostage 19 crewmembers. Owners are unable
to contact the ship, according to the daily updates from the
International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Centre (IMB).
The IMB reported that about 66 crewmen of different nationalities have
been taken hostage and their vessels hijacked by Somali pirates in three
weeks. In addition, four piracy attempts were averted as a result of
immediate action by crewmembers and/or escorting coalition warships.
Officials in Somalia have confirmed that 10 ships are still being held
by Somali pirates, who attack vessels on the northern Somali coast of
the Gulf of Aden and in the Arabian Sea.
Pirates use speedboats and fire automatic weapons and rocket-propelled
grenades (RPGs) in their attempts to board and hijack vessels, according
to the IMB piracy report. Once the attack is successful and the vessel
hijacked, the pirates sail towards the Somali coast and thereafter
demand ransom for the release of the vessel and crew.
The prevalence of Somali piracy in the Gulf of Aden directly affects
Yemen from the security and economic perspectives. Yemeni authorities
have reacted to the phenomenon, though the interim federal government in
Somalia does not have the capacity to do anything.
The Yemen government in early September decided to deploy 1,000 soldiers
along with 16 military boats in the Gulf of Aden and its territorial
waters. It is also conducting discussions with International Coalition
Forces in the Horn of Africa to coordinate efforts and provide security
for the maritime route.
In addition, Yemen has announced it is establishing three regional
centres to counter piracy in Aden, in Mukalla on the Gulf of Aden and in
Hodeidah on the Red Sea. The centres are expected to provide technical
and security assistance to the ships passing through.
The head of the Coastguard Authority in Yemen, Ali Rasa'e, told The
Media Line (TML) that these measures by the government were just
proposals.
"Nothing has been put into action so far," Rasa'e said. "The scarcity of
financial and technical resources forms a great impediment to the
combating of piracy."
The interim federal government of Somalia and the government of the
autonomous northern region of Puntland have been trying to get security
support from the international community to battle piracy.
The minister of International Cooperation in the government of Puntland,
Abdoh Ali Awali, told TML in a phone interview that an official
delegation had conducted meetings with several Western and Arab
embassies in Nairobi.
The objective, according to Awali, was to generate international support
to fight piracy.
Awali said that Puntland -a region in northeastern Somalia that was
declared an autonomous state in 1998 -had no capacity to counter the
escalating "international disaster."
"However, we are ready to put an end to this phenomenon if given
international support," Awali said. "The pirates have sophisticated
speedboats and weapons while we don't. They have made lots of money as a
result of masters paying ransom money.
"We appeal to all masters not to pay any ransom to the pirates," Awali
added. The IMB welcomed UN Security Council resolution 1816 that allows
states cooperating with the Somali government to use "all necessary
means" to repress acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea, in a manner
consistent with relevant provisions of international law. However, the
resolution does not appear to been applied so far.
Yemeni strategic analyst, Jalal Al-Sharabi described what was going in
the Gulf of Aden as a "strategic game." Al-Sharabi told TML that the
United States was not taking serious action against piracy, though it
could.
"The US wants to control the Gulf of Aden from its military base in
Djibouti and prevent any Iranian attempt to establish a coalition with
any western African country. I believe this is an introduction to
possibly tougher tension between the US and Iran," he said.
Reporter on Somali affairs, Nabil Al-Osaidi, told TML that during the
rule of the Supreme Council of Islamic Courts in Somalia, piracy was at
its lowest.
"War lords in Somalia encourage piracy and hijacking as a form of
creating wealth. Chaos and disorder in Somalia represent a threat to the
entire Gulf region, starting with Yemen," Al-Osaidi said.
Security reporter Abdul-Hakim Hilal expressed concern that Al-Qa'idah
might be behind the problems on the seas.
"A few weeks ago, Al-Qa'idah made a statement in Yemen threatening to
shift its battlefield to the sea, and this might be it," Hilal told TML.
Since last January 34 tanker ships and yachts have been hijacked in the
Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Aden; last year there were 25 hijackings.
http://www.mareeg.com/fidsan.php?sid=8365
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