Sjöröveri (4): intressant söndagsläsning

Förra gången det begav sig: muslimska sjörövare från Barbareskstaterna (dvs. Nordafrika). Kopparstick från sent 1700-tal.

Jag tänkte bara tipsa om ett par artiklar som kan vara av intresse i sammanhanget.

Jeffrey Gettleman på New York Times har gjort en intervju med sjörövarna som kapat det ukrainska ro-ro-fartyget MV Faina. Artikeln ger en utmärkt inblick i piraternas sätt att resonera:

“We just saw a big ship,” the pirates’ spokesman, Sugule Ali, said in a telephone interview. “So we stopped it.”

The pirates quickly learned, though, that their booty was an estimated $30 million worth of heavy weaponry, heading for Kenya or Sudan, depending on whom you ask.

In a 45-minute interview, Mr. Sugule spoke on everything from what the pirates wanted (“just money”) to why they were doing this (“to stop illegal fishing and dumping in our waters”) to what they had to eat on board (rice, meat, bread, spaghetti, “you know, normal human-being food”).

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James Zumwalt, skribent för Washington Times och före detta marinkårssoldat (Vietnam- och gulfkrigsveteran) har författat ett analytiskt hållet "ledarstick" som även innehåller intressanta historiska perspektiv:

Soon after winning independence from England, the United States faced another war. Muslim pirates operating off North Africa's Barbary Coast were seizing US, as well as European, ships sailing in international waters, holding them for tribute payment or plunder...

Today, Muslim pirates again sail the seas off Africa's coast. Mostly Somalis, these pirates have already attacked more than 60 ships this year in the vicinity of the Gulf of Aden - almost 5 times more than occurred all last year. Pirates gain confidence as owners prove willing to pay ransoms for the safe return of ships and crews, much like the United States first did with the Barbary Pirates.

This does little to end the piracy, however, as these criminals invest their ill-gotten gains in even more sophisticated weaponry and faster boats with which to intercept their prey. At least in the days of Barbary tribute payments, a nation won free passage for all its ships. But today's ransom payments only encourage repeated attacks, including re-seizure of ships earlier released following payment should they ever sail back into the pirates' den.

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Författaren och seglaren John S Burnett, som själv råkat ut för sjörövare i Sydkinesiska sjön, skriver ett intressant inlägg i Los Angeles Times om piraternas taktik, med mera:

High seas piracy has emerged from the history books -- and things are much more terrifying than yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum.

Ten days ago, Somali pirates hijacked the Ukrainian cargo ship Faina, with a crew of 20, which was transporting 33 battle tanks and assorted heavy weaponry. This dangerous cargo, booty far beyond the expectations of the pirates, has drawn rare international attention to the growing crisis of piracy at sea. U.S. Navy ships have surrounded the Faina for fear the weapons, if unloaded, will fall into the hands of Islamic insurgents. The Russian warship Neustrashimy, with marines and commandos aboard, is en route. The European Union has finally moved to set up an anti-piracy security operation in the region, and the United Nations may vote on an anti-pirate resolution next week.

The pirates reportedly demanded $35 million to free the ship, then $20 million -- and may have dropped their price to $5 million. But they don't call it ransom. Their leader told the New York Times that the money was a "fine" for transporting arms in Somalia's waters and for "unauthorized and unsanctioned fishing and for the humanitarian catastrophe in Somalia."

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