Pirates and the lads

Mercenaries, the media and worried looking men in suits are much exercised by the escalating operations of the Somali pirates patrolling the Gulf of Aden in search of booty. In fact, the pirates stepped up operations a year ago (AC Vol 49 No 15), but then they were threatening freighters bringing food to starving Somalis not Saudi Arabian oil tankers such as the Sirius Star, which is now in the custody of the pirates.The real story is the imminent collapse of the Transitional Federal Government in Mogadishu and the murderous turmoil that will accompany it. The mayhem and lucrative hostage-taking on the high seas mirrors the land war that has ripped across Somalia for 17 years.

Article Tags:
Saudi Arabian, Abdullahi Yusuf, MauritanianOuld-Abdallah, Ethiopian, Djibouti, Mohamed Dhere, Meles Zenawi, Al Shabaab, Al Shabaab, Al Shabaab, Africa Confidential, Al Shabaab

end of preview

To read the rest of the article you need to either log in or do one of the following:

Subscribe to Africa Confidential Find out more
Purchase this article on its own Find out more

If you have a print subscription already please click here for full access to the website.
If you have already logged in and believe you should have access to this article please contact customer services.