SOMALIA: “Islamists Seize Pirate Strongholds”
The Reuters news agencies reports:
Islamist fighters in Somalia have seized two coastal towns and vowed to rid the area of piracy that has made the country’s Indian Ocean waters some of the most dangerous in the world, residents said on Sunday. The militiamen met little resistance and there were no immediate reports of casualties as they moved into Harardheere, a town 400km (250 miles) north of the capital Mogadishu on Saturday, before advancing north to take Eldher a day later. “We have to secure the town and its surroundings,†one Islamist commander, who did not give his name, told a crowd of residents in Harardheere. “Piracy is a crime.†Fighters loyal to the country’s Islamic courts movement seized Mogadishu and a strategic swathe of southern Somalia in June. They oppose the interim government, based in the provincial town of Baidoa, and threaten its limited authority. Many on the coast applauded the Islamists’ arrival. “Now we will be free fishermen,†said Abdi Warsame, a fisherman in Harardheere. Piracy is a lucrative offshoot of a trade in smuggled drugs, weapons and people by Somalia’s powerful warlords.
Well, Somali pirates did indeed commit serious violation against the international maritime laws and regulations. However, they help to thwart international criminals that looted marine resources from the Somali coast. In short, their crimes help protect the Somali coast and that’s is not a bad thing for the Somali people!