The piracy that has bedeviled the Horn of Africa has taken a dark and ugly turn. Pirates murdered two American couples aboard a yacht on a round-the-world cruise.
Pirates were in negotiations with two U.S. Navy destroyers standing by. But for whatever reason — overcrowding among the 19 pirates aboard the 58-foot yacht, dwindling supplies of food and water, a falling-out over the hostages — the pirates killed two of their own number and the four Americans.
On hearing the shots and having a rocket-propelled grenade fired at them, the destroyers dispatched troops who killed two more of the pirates and took the rest captive.
When this piracy began in earnest, the motives were purely mercenary, unclouded by religion, ideology or xenophobia. They wanted money.
The Associated Press interviewed by phone a pirate named Hassan who said that the kidnappers became angry because the U.S. ships were blocking their return to Somalia with the hostages. And, he said, pirates will now kill hostages before being taken captive and sent for trial to the United States, where one Somali pirate recently received a 33-year prison sentence.
The AP says the pirates now hold some 30 ships and 660 hostages. They are said to have upped the number of guards watching the ships and hostages for fear of a rescue operation. “We will respond to any future attacks aggressively,” promised one.
Meantime, the piracy business, once the province of underemployed fishermen operating close to shore, has changed. The pirates are increasingly drawn from criminal gangs, and by using mother ships are able to operate far out in the Indian Ocean. They are said to be bankrolled by wealthy Somalis who take a cut of the ransoms.
The sea-lanes are patrolled by warships from the world’s maritime nations, but the area they cover is immense. The most logical course — rooting the pirates out of their bases — wouldn’t work because there is no functioning government to keep them from returning.
The navies can step up patrols, convince ship owners to make their vessels harder to storm and urge yachts, fishing craft and other smaller ships to steer clear of the area. But the immediate outlook, given the potential profits, is for the pirates to become more violent.
From Scripps Howard News Service.