US rules out attacks on Somali pirate bases

[General Duke]

US rules out attacks on Somali pirate bases

 

Written by Reuters

 

April 22, 2009: The United States is unlikely to attack Somali pirate bases on land due to the risk of civilian deaths but it may help local authorities fight the scourge, a senior US defence official says.

 

Somali gangs have captured dozens of ships and earned tens of millions of dollars in ransom, pushing the issue up the US security agenda, particularly after pirates tried to hijack a US.-flagged ship with an American crew this month.

 

Collateral damage

 

The brief seizure of the Maersk Alabama and the subsequent hostage drama involving the ship’s captain have led to calls from lawmakers in Washington and former military officers for US forces to attack the pirates’ base camps on land.

 

But US officials are wary of any action that could kill civilians and lead the pirates to seek common cause with Islamist militants such as Somalia’s al-Shabab group.

 

“We are not really looking at, from a US standpoint, doing anything on land,” the senior defence official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“These base camps are located, co-located essentially, with villages so the potential for collateral damage is significant.”

 

Asked about the possibility of air strikes, the official said “never say never,” but they were unlikely for the same reasons. The United States has used air strikes in the past to target Islamist militants in lawless Somalia.

 

The solution to the Somali piracy scourge involved many elements, the official said.

 

They included more effort by shipping companies to protect their vessels and possible US assistance to the semi-autonomous northern Somali region of Puntland.

 

Puntland, where most of the pirates’ base camps are located, has a small coast guard which is not very effective and the United States is considering whether it could provide help to beef up that force, the official said.

 

Another problem posed by piracy is how and where to prosecute those responsible.

 

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Monday the release of pirates by NATO forces over the weekend sent the wrong signal to the Somali gangs.

 

“We are going to have to determine the best way to bring pirates to justice after they are captured and there will have to be additional discussion of this at NATO as well,” she said.

 

Last week, Clinton said the United States would also explore ways to track and seize pirates’ assets.

 

The US defence official said the United States had gained a greater understanding in recent months of how pirate operations were financed using a model adapted from camel raiding.

 

Investors funded the raids and provided money to supply the pirates and their captives while the hijacked vessels were held close to shore and ransom talks took place, the official said.

 

“One of the ways to impact (the problem) is to go after the investors,” the official said. “There’s not that many of them ... They’re probably moving around in major capitals -- Europe, the Middle East.”More naval vessels would not solve the problem and the shipping industry had to do more, the official said.Shipping firms are reluctant to place armed guards on their vessels but the official said measures such as surrounding a ship’s deck with barbed wire or keeping slow, easy-to-board ships away from the area off Somalia could be effective.

 

“Industry is still looking for an external solution and not looking at itself,” the official said. “There is going to be more talk about how to a certain extent this piracy wound has become self-inflicted,” added the official.

 

“The solution just isn’t in more navy vessels and certainly, not in the short term, it’s not in trying to make Somali fishermen, you know, middle class with satellite TV and that kind of stuff,” the official said.

 

Meanwhile, donors will later this week meet in Brussels to discuss urgent funding for Somali security forces and African Union peacekeepers in what will be an important test of support for the chaotic country’s new government.President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed’s administration is the 15th attempt in 18 years to set up a central government in Somalia, which has been ravaged by an insurgency and feuding warlords.

 

More than one million people have been uprooted by fighting in the past two years, a third of the population survives on food aid, and the turmoil has spilled into the international shipping lanes offshore, where Somali pirates are wreaking havoc.

 

Ahmed, a former Islamist rebel leader elected in January at UN-brokered talks, is seen by many diplomats monitoring Somalia as the best hope in some time for restoring stability.The UN special envoy to Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, said Thursday’s conference must send all Somalis a clear message that the whole international community was focused on fixing the Horn of Africa country’s problems once and for all.

 

“For me, money is indicative, we may get more, we may get less. But the overall result should not be about money. It’s the message we send, to say: enough is enough,” he told Reuters.

 

“I’m optimistic about the diplomatic message ... it’s a show of solidarity with the people of Somalia.” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will co-chair the meeting with Jean Ping, chairman of the African Union (AU) Commission. Amr Moussa, head of the Arab League, will attend, as well as senior officials from the European Union and United States.

 

It will be the first time in many years that a UN chief has chaired a conference on Somalia, Ould-Abdallah said. Security will be top of the agenda.Hardline Islamist insurgent groups—ncluding al Shabaab, which Washington says is linked to al Qaeda — have been battling government forces and Ugandan and Burundian soldiers from the 4,300-strong AU mission AMISOM for two years.

 

Meeting organisers say $165 million is needed over the next 12 months to pay for a 6,000-strong new national security force, 10,000 Somali police, and to support the AMISOM troops.In an April 3 letter to Somalis living abroad, Ould-Abdallah said US President Barack Obama’s government was very worried about a rise in extremist ideology among young Somali-Americans.An American of Somali origin from Minnesota carried out a suicide bombing in Hargeisa, in northern Somalia, last October.

[General Duke]

“We are not really looking at, from a US standpoint, doing anything on land,” the senior defence official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“These base camps are located, co-located essentially, with villages so the potential for collateral damage is significant.”

 

Asked about the possibility of air strikes, the official said “never say never,” but they were unlikely for the same reasons. The United States has used air strikes in the past to target Islamist militants in lawless Somalia.

 

The solution to the Somali piracy scourge involved many elements, the official said.

 

They included more effort by shipping companies to protect their vessels and possible US assistance to the semi-autonomous northern Somali region of Puntland.

 

Puntland, where most of the pirates’ base camps are located, has a small coast guard which is not very effective and the United States is considering whether it could provide help to beef up that force, the official said.