Piracy ransom cash ends up in al Qaeda hands

Piracy ransom cash ends up with Somali militants | Reuters

Whenever Reuters or most other media outlets say "militants" they mean "al Qaeda terrorists" or their allies. What this story reports is that the millions of dollars of ransom paid to Somali pirates winds up significantly in the accounts of al Qaeda's Somalia affiliate, al Shabaab.

NAIROBI, July 6 (Reuters) - Ransoms paid to Somali pirates to free merchant vessels are ending up in the hands of Islamist militants, laying shipping groups open to accusations of breaching international sanctions, U.N. officials told Reuters.

John Steed, the principal military adviser to the U.N. special envoy to Somalia and head of the envoy's counter-piracy unit, said links between armed pirate gangs and Somalia's al Qaeda-affiliated rebels were gradually firming.

"The payment of ransoms just like any other funding activity, illegal or otherwise, is technically in breach of the Somalia sanctions regime if it makes the security situation in Somalia worse," said Steed.

"Especially if it is ending up in the hands of terrorists or militia leaders -- and we believe it is, some directly, some more indirectly," said Steed, a retired military officer.

Galrahn at Information Dissemination blog makes this point:

Do people realize that it is a big deal that the United Nations would casually discuss the connections between Somali pirates and Al Shabaab? No government has ever officially claimed such a link exists. This would mean piracy is a direct funding mechanism for Al Qaeda, and every ransom payment is illegal.

We appear to now be at a point in time with piracy where if a company tries to free captured mariners with ransom money, the company would be subject to prosecution for illegally financially supporting global terrorism. That's a pretty big deal, and really bad news if you are a hostage.

The UN report gives lie to the old explanation for Somali piracy that it was being done from desperation by poverty-stricken Somalis who have no other way to make a living. While some pirates may have started out that way, the fact that shipping companies ponied up large sums to free their crews and cargo inevitably meant that the gangster element would muscle in, and muscle in they did. Somali piracy has been purely an organized-crime endeavor for a long time now. With the gangs paying large sums to al Qaeda, a new page is turned. As Galrahn points out, this is not good news for the people now being held hostage.

In April 2009, the aftermath of the rescue of MV Alabama's captain, I wrote that Somali piracy was not an actual national-security threat to the United States. What an apparent difference only two years can make.

To see the density of maritime commercial shipping passing just off Somalia, click here. And threre is not way to re-route it.