A SOMALI PIRATE IN ACTION TALKS TO IOL, BY ABDULKARIM MOHAMED JIMALE
IOL: How do you deal with the hostages? Do you strip them of personal properties? Saaid: We have a code of conduct that outlines how we will deal with the hostages, we respect the hostages. We don't touch their personal properties or the cargo of the hijacked ship. We don’t rope them and ask them ransom but we deal with the owner of the seized ship. Our aim is to get money and we only deal with the ship owner.
Saaid: I was a fisherman in Gar'ad, a coastal village in Somalia’s Mudug region, before I turned into a coast guard. We decided to counter illegal fishing along our coastlines ourselves, and to protect our resources from foreign looters who destroyed our fishing equipment. Illegal foreign fishing vessels have taken all the fish, big and small. Nothing was left for us. They even fished about 2 to 3 miles near our coastlines. At that time, we only had AK-47, assault rifles, and other small weapons but we had more skiffs. We used to attack one foreign fishing ships by 200 skiffs, while each skiff carries onboard 3 pirates armed with AK-47. No one was supporting us financially at that time. Also, we have seen foreign ships dumping toxic waste nearby our shore, resulting in the death of fish and affecting the health of many coastal villagers. Therefore, we decided to capture the vessels before they dump toxic waste in our sea. IOL: What is the estimated number of fishing boats that have been destroyed by the foreign looters as you claim? Saaid: Somalia is a big country and I don’t have the actual figures. But I can tell you my personal encounter with these destroyers. One night, we ventured into the sea with 61 fishing boats, each carrying three or four people. Some of us were asleep when a big ship passed in between our convoy. It was disaster, it roughed up the waters and left some of us drown; of all the 61 boats, only nine survived the tragedy. So you can guess what our colleagues across the country are facing. IOL: What are the tactics you use to hijack ships?
Saaid: A big boat (mother ship) and two small high-speed boats will go together. Each small boat carries five pirates armed with Rocket Propel Grenades (RPGs) and sophisticated GPS and AIS (Automated Information Systems). When we receive a signal of a cargo ship transiting nearby, we set our perimeters and launch the attack from the two skiffs while the mother ship backs us. We chase the target, firing weapons at the captain’s mast; some captains give up, while others speed off. Those we seize; we order the captain of the vessel to send signal informing the nearby forces that we are onboard. Then, the vessel changes its direction and sail towards Somali coast. IOL: What if a ship owner refused to pay ransom? Saaid: We do two things if the owners refused to pay ransom for their seized ships. We move the ship's crew to the shore including the captain until the owner pay the ransom which we demanded. If not, we use the ship to hijack other ships. IOL: Who funds your piracy operations? Saaid: Most of the pirates are young men; nobody really finances our operations; we have umbrella groups which do everything we need including financing our operations. IOL: From where do you get your weapons? Saaid: Somalia has weapons from all the world. We get weapons from inside and from outside the country; mostly we buy from our neighboring countries illegally. IOL: Any country in particular? Saaid: Yemeni illegal arm dealers supply us. IOL: What is the most dangerous situation you have ever faced while in a piracy operation? Saaid: We were nine of us on a boat seafaring more than a thousand miles off Somalia over a month and three days. We were unlucky and decided to return to shores but some 120 miles off the shorelines, we encountered one of the worst tragedies. We saw a cloud of dust whirling and scores of high-tweeting birds flying over the waters. All over the sudden, the waters became so rough and the boat was half sunk. Only one of us, who was on the lower part of the boat, remained onboard. He was the one who could rescue us. Later, we have discovered that the dust was caused by a toxic waste dumped by a ship that immediately fled the area.
IOL: How do pirates manage to deal with warships patrolling Somali waters? Saaid: The warships are here to fight, so we are prepared all the time for it. Nevertheless, when we encounter them in the high seas, some of us send their weapons overboard and claim that they are illegal immigrants. Others will decide to fight them and the mighty will prevail; while other groups will simply decide to flee. If they were in three boats, they will divide themselves and start fleeing in three different directions. The forces will go after one boat and the rest will escape. IOL: Do you have one leader or each group has its own leader? Is there a form of coordination between Somali pirates? Saaid: The pirates belong to different groups, but we have umbrella groups. There are two main groups; one in Puntland and the other in south and central Somalia. I am a member of the one in Puntland. We stay in contact and we respect each other. For example, when a group of pirates in Gar'ad takes ransom they will share it with their friends in south and central Somalia and vice versa.
By Abdulkarim Mohamed Jimale |
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