One-eyed act won't work

Nov.2, 2007

One-eyed act won't work


THE thriving piracy in and around Somalia is a blotch on the international law and order situation. Well-armed pirates roaming around in small boats off the coast of Somalia are thumping their nose at the world by hijacking and looting merchant vessels and then demanding ransom for releasing their crew and, quite often, getting away with it.
The International Maritime Bureau says piracy attaks on shipping have increased by 14 per cent in the first three quarters of this year mainly because of a jump in incidents off the west and east coasts of Africa, with Somalia again a key source of concern. Only Indonesia's waters are considered more prone to pirate attacks.
It would seem that we have gone back a century or more in time when notorious pirates roamed the seas. The only missing piece is probably one-eyed characters with hooks for hands going aboard hijacked ships in the high seas from vessels flying the infamous black flags with the deadly skull sign.
The rise in piracy attacks by Somali pirates may or may not have to do anything with the ouster in December of Somalia's Islamists, who cracked down on piracy while they held sway in the capital, Mogadishu, and much of the south of the country, last year. But the international community could not simply hold the interim government in Somalia responsible to take action against the pirates because the UN-backed regime itself is fighting for its survival and does not have what it takes to even think beyond its immediate protection.
Indeed, the best counter-action so far against piracy has come in the form of a French pledge to send a warship to waters off Somalia authorised to take whatever action deemed fit to counter the threat. The French warship is expected to be deployed in November. However, that is not enough. The number of pirate boats stalking commercial vessels is on the rise, and immediate action is needed to counter it.
We have seen the great enthusiasm to send warships to Middle Eastern waters to enforce the UN embargo on Iraq during the regime of Saddam Hussein. It is only fair for the world to expect the same interest, seriousness and commitment from the same powers to ensure that international maritime shipping is not threatened by some ragtag gunmen who believe in nothing but violence.