Medeshi Dec 11, 2008SPECIAL REPORT: A Marshall Plan for Africa
MANAMA -- Piracy in the Horn of Africa has recently grabbed the front pages of newspapers around the world after Somali pirates successfully hijacked several cargo ships, including a Saudi-owned super tanker, the Sirius Star, with $100 million dollars worth of oil on board.
(Photo: A French anti-piracy unit undergoes a naval exercise in the Mediterranean Sea near Toulon, southern France in preparation to tackle pirates off the coast of Somalia who have sown panic throughout the shipping world and caused some firms to reroute to the Cape of Good Hope - hiking costs and causing delays . )
These modern-day buccaneers operating in the troubled waters off the coast of Somalia and Yemen, have extorted what is no less than kings' ransoms in exchange for the safe return of ships, crews and cargoes.
As of this publishing the pirates continue to hold a number of vessels and their crews.
Newspapers and television stations are not the only ones following developments in the Horn of Africa. The recent spike in piracy has also aroused the attention of security and military officials around the world, particularly after intelligence sources began linking some of them to Islamist terrorist groups affiliated with al-Qaida.
In the last 12 months more than 120 ships, according to the World Maritime Union, have been attacked by pirates and about 40 – in other words one out of every three ships attacked has been successfully hijacked.
Indeed, piracy in the Horn of Africa is such a hot topic these days that it is piquing the interest of the world's top security experts. The London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies is devoting an entire session to studying this new phenomenon and to discuss ways to successfully deter modern piracy, during the institute's annual symposium on Gulf security that will be held in Bahrain Dec. 12-15.
The West in general, and the European Union and the United States in particular, were somewhat slow to react to the threat. This delay allowed the pirates to become bolder and more daring. It has also allowed them to acquire more sophisticated weapons with the ransom they received.
But now, after months of failing to respond to the challenge posed by these pirates, the EU has finally begun to take action.
As of Monday, the European Union launched a new initiative in the area, Operation Atlanta, a joint effort by its 27 member nations. This was the first naval mission of its kind, the aim of which is to try and eradicate this new plague and growing threat to international shipping.
By no means will the mission be an easy one, given the size of the area in question – three times the size of France – and the means at their disposal to police that zone.
The initial task force counts only six warships and three maritime patrol planes.
Britain and France, two former colonial powers in Africa have taken the lead in the fight against modern day piracy, along with Greece, a country where a high percentage of the word's merchant ships are registered, providing the country with an important revenue stream. Germany and Italy are sending gunboats and France and Spain are contributing fighter planes from a nearby French military base in Djibouti still used by the French Foreign Legion.
So challenging is the task that the European Union is asking non-EU members to participate in the joint naval task force.
While no doubt this is a positive development - and it should inject some much needed confidence among vessels of the world's merchant marine and pleasure cruises, both of which have been the target of international piracy - action should have been taken months ago, when the problem was still manageable and when the pirates were not as well armed and equipped.
The fact that these hijackers were able to make fortunes now gives them additional clout and resources. A few million dollars goes a long way in the Horn of Africa, one of the poorest regions on earth.
Pirates know how to invest the money they steal. A good portion of it is "reinvested" in the tools of their trade.
Modern seaborne plunderers are equipped with speedboats fitted with powerful outboard engines, often more powerful than those used by the authorities. They are also equipped with automatic weapons, light artillery and sophisticated navigational equipment.
Now if that was not bad enough, according to intelligence sources, many pirates also have links with militant Islamist organizations.
Of course brute military force alone is not the solution and will only solve the problem temporarily, if that. What is needed is a mini-Marshall plan to help develop the region, in turn offering Somalis a viable alternative to joining marauding gangs of criminals, be they on land or at sea.
Cracking down on piracy and crime is indeed a must, however logic demands that the thousands of unemployed and aimless youth in the Horn of Africa be offered a way out of their misery.
These modern-day buccaneers operating in the troubled waters off the coast of Somalia and Yemen, have extorted what is no less than kings' ransoms in exchange for the safe return of ships, crews and cargoes.
As of this publishing the pirates continue to hold a number of vessels and their crews.
Newspapers and television stations are not the only ones following developments in the Horn of Africa. The recent spike in piracy has also aroused the attention of security and military officials around the world, particularly after intelligence sources began linking some of them to Islamist terrorist groups affiliated with al-Qaida.
In the last 12 months more than 120 ships, according to the World Maritime Union, have been attacked by pirates and about 40 – in other words one out of every three ships attacked has been successfully hijacked.
Indeed, piracy in the Horn of Africa is such a hot topic these days that it is piquing the interest of the world's top security experts. The London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies is devoting an entire session to studying this new phenomenon and to discuss ways to successfully deter modern piracy, during the institute's annual symposium on Gulf security that will be held in Bahrain Dec. 12-15.
The West in general, and the European Union and the United States in particular, were somewhat slow to react to the threat. This delay allowed the pirates to become bolder and more daring. It has also allowed them to acquire more sophisticated weapons with the ransom they received.
But now, after months of failing to respond to the challenge posed by these pirates, the EU has finally begun to take action.
As of Monday, the European Union launched a new initiative in the area, Operation Atlanta, a joint effort by its 27 member nations. This was the first naval mission of its kind, the aim of which is to try and eradicate this new plague and growing threat to international shipping.
By no means will the mission be an easy one, given the size of the area in question – three times the size of France – and the means at their disposal to police that zone.
The initial task force counts only six warships and three maritime patrol planes.
Britain and France, two former colonial powers in Africa have taken the lead in the fight against modern day piracy, along with Greece, a country where a high percentage of the word's merchant ships are registered, providing the country with an important revenue stream. Germany and Italy are sending gunboats and France and Spain are contributing fighter planes from a nearby French military base in Djibouti still used by the French Foreign Legion.
So challenging is the task that the European Union is asking non-EU members to participate in the joint naval task force.
While no doubt this is a positive development - and it should inject some much needed confidence among vessels of the world's merchant marine and pleasure cruises, both of which have been the target of international piracy - action should have been taken months ago, when the problem was still manageable and when the pirates were not as well armed and equipped.
The fact that these hijackers were able to make fortunes now gives them additional clout and resources. A few million dollars goes a long way in the Horn of Africa, one of the poorest regions on earth.
Pirates know how to invest the money they steal. A good portion of it is "reinvested" in the tools of their trade.
Modern seaborne plunderers are equipped with speedboats fitted with powerful outboard engines, often more powerful than those used by the authorities. They are also equipped with automatic weapons, light artillery and sophisticated navigational equipment.
Now if that was not bad enough, according to intelligence sources, many pirates also have links with militant Islamist organizations.
Of course brute military force alone is not the solution and will only solve the problem temporarily, if that. What is needed is a mini-Marshall plan to help develop the region, in turn offering Somalis a viable alternative to joining marauding gangs of criminals, be they on land or at sea.
Cracking down on piracy and crime is indeed a must, however logic demands that the thousands of unemployed and aimless youth in the Horn of Africa be offered a way out of their misery.
