Somali Pirates vs Toxic waste trade
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For many years the long Somali coast has worked as world landfill of toxic waste.
Already in the late '80s there was much alarm, as highlighted in the report "The Deadly Trade: Toxic Waste Dumping in Africa." (September-October 1988) of Africa Report.
The reality of this illegal and very harmful Trade is then clearly highlighted by several articles of Famiglia Cristiana, Italain weekly magazine, in'98, (http://www.stpauls.it/fc98/4798fc/4798fc84.htm), and by research and the same murder of Ilaria Alpi and Miran Hrovatin.
Of course everything happened with the active collaboration of the warlords of various Somali clans. Individuals of a shameful moral lowliness, which for a few (or many) dollars have destroyed an entire nation and undermined its future in many ways, including nuclear sludge dumped into the Somali coast.
At that time everything could arrive in Somalia without any control. Even more easily by sea, where not even the AK 47 of the various militias could act as a deterrent.
What has changed since then in the Somali coast?
Just today (18/09/08) a Greek vessel was sized off Somali cost.
A maritime official says armed pirates have hijacked a Greek bulk carrier with 25 crew members off the eastern coast of Somalia.
Noel Choong of the International Maritime Bureau says the ship was headed to Kenya when it was attacked early Thursday off the coast of Mogadishu.
It was 13th ship seized in the notorious African waters in the past two months.
He says the latest incident shows Somali pirates have expanded their area of attack from the country's northern coast in the Gulf of Aden to Somalia's east coast.
A multinational naval force patrolling the area has been informed, and that ships have been warned to stay clear of Somalia's coast, he added
The modern Somali piracy has nothing to envy to the fearless pirates in the past, and only by January of this year 55 vessels were attacked off Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden.
Almost two ships every three days, and at least eleven of them are still under seizure.
But how this affects the trade of toxic waste?
If these pirates are controlled by various warlords, becomes obvious that the seizures are targeted, at least not to attack "friends" that carry the waste in exchange for money.
In this case the situation can only deteriorate.
Personally, however, I believe that these pirates not respond directly to any local warlord, but are people who have sniffed a bargain of kidnapping as the only source of income in a country that lives only of remittance of emigrants.
I am convinced of this because if they were controlled by warlords would be very easy to stop them, since the local lords are directly controlled by Melez of Ethiopia, in turn he's directly controlled by Washington.
In addition, only two days before, for the second time French commandos attacked a base of pirates in the north of Somalia, an area controlled by an ally of the war to the pirates.
I therefore hope that fear of being kidnapped keeps away many who would otherwise conclude illegal and harmful business, and as immoral as it could appear I’m grateful to the pirates for this.
Hussein Aden
Already in the late '80s there was much alarm, as highlighted in the report "The Deadly Trade: Toxic Waste Dumping in Africa." (September-October 1988) of Africa Report.
The reality of this illegal and very harmful Trade is then clearly highlighted by several articles of Famiglia Cristiana, Italain weekly magazine, in'98, (http://www.stpauls.it/fc98/4798fc/4798fc84.htm), and by research and the same murder of Ilaria Alpi and Miran Hrovatin.
Of course everything happened with the active collaboration of the warlords of various Somali clans. Individuals of a shameful moral lowliness, which for a few (or many) dollars have destroyed an entire nation and undermined its future in many ways, including nuclear sludge dumped into the Somali coast.
At that time everything could arrive in Somalia without any control. Even more easily by sea, where not even the AK 47 of the various militias could act as a deterrent.
What has changed since then in the Somali coast?
Just today (18/09/08) a Greek vessel was sized off Somali cost.
A maritime official says armed pirates have hijacked a Greek bulk carrier with 25 crew members off the eastern coast of Somalia.
Noel Choong of the International Maritime Bureau says the ship was headed to Kenya when it was attacked early Thursday off the coast of Mogadishu.
It was 13th ship seized in the notorious African waters in the past two months.
He says the latest incident shows Somali pirates have expanded their area of attack from the country's northern coast in the Gulf of Aden to Somalia's east coast.
A multinational naval force patrolling the area has been informed, and that ships have been warned to stay clear of Somalia's coast, he added
The modern Somali piracy has nothing to envy to the fearless pirates in the past, and only by January of this year 55 vessels were attacked off Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden.
Almost two ships every three days, and at least eleven of them are still under seizure.
But how this affects the trade of toxic waste?
If these pirates are controlled by various warlords, becomes obvious that the seizures are targeted, at least not to attack "friends" that carry the waste in exchange for money.
In this case the situation can only deteriorate.
Personally, however, I believe that these pirates not respond directly to any local warlord, but are people who have sniffed a bargain of kidnapping as the only source of income in a country that lives only of remittance of emigrants.
I am convinced of this because if they were controlled by warlords would be very easy to stop them, since the local lords are directly controlled by Melez of Ethiopia, in turn he's directly controlled by Washington.
In addition, only two days before, for the second time French commandos attacked a base of pirates in the north of Somalia, an area controlled by an ally of the war to the pirates.
I therefore hope that fear of being kidnapped keeps away many who would otherwise conclude illegal and harmful business, and as immoral as it could appear I’m grateful to the pirates for this.
Hussein Aden
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