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Today's guest host was Indira Naidoo Harris
Friday, Nov 21, 2008
Interview with Somali Pirates Muse
Earlier this week, a giant Saudi oil tanker called the Sirius Star dropped anchor in the Indian Ocean ... a little more than 800 kilometres off the coast of Somalia. Those are dangerous waters, rife with piracy. But the crew figured they were safe since no one had ever struck that far out at sea. They were wrong. And now the Sirius Star, along with its 25 crew members and the two million barrels of crude oil it was carrying are being held off the coast of a small Somali fishing village -- and well-defended pirate base called Eyl.
There have been three more hijackings since then. And more than a third of all the pirate attacks in the world now take place off the coast of Somalia. Muse, as he calls himself, is a Somali fisherman who says he hijacks ships traveling off the coast of Somalia. He says he's not a pirate, he's defending his country. We contacted him with the help of freelance journalist Abdul Rahman Warssameh in Mogadishu. And because of the quality of the phone line, The Current's Kennedy Jawoko helped out with a voice-over.
Somali Pirates - Security
Tuesday, November 19, 2008
Now the waters off the Horn of Africa are part of one of the world's most important shipping routes especially if you want to move oil out of the Persian Gulf. So it's not surprising that the companies that rely on those waters see things a little differently. Sunil Ram has been fielding calls from some of those companies. He's a a Security Consultant with Executive Security Services International and Sunil Ram joined us today from Huntsville, Ontario.
Canada has had a presence in the Gulf of Aden, as part of the international naval patrols, but the Department of National Defense was not willing to provide us with an update on our mission.
Listen the full Interview
Mogadishu - Reporter
Somali pirates have successfully commandeered two more ships over the past 24 hours -- this time a Greek bulk carrier and Thai fishing boat. That brings the total to nine ships seized in the Gulf of Aden and off the Kenyan coast in the past two weeks... the most spectacular being the hijacking of a huge oil tanker on Sunday. One exception though, this morning the Indian navy is saying one of its warships fought off pirates and destroyed their vessel after a short battle.
The piracy is putting Somalia back in the headlines. After all, the alarming escalation in piracy in the waters off Africa's eastern coasts is largely rooted in the sheer anarchy and lack of any effective government in Somalia. And as bad as things got there in the early 1990s, some say the situation is worse now.
Years of conflict have left large parts of the country in the hands of warlords, while Ethiopian-backed government forces, African Union troops and armed insurgents fight for the capital city of Mogadishu. The city has been abandoned by at least half of its residents.
Now there are reports that the Islamic Courts, which controlled much of Somalia in 2006, is closing on Mogadishu again. And the Ethiopian-backed President - Abdullahi Yusuf - admits his government only has control in the cities of Mogadishu and Baidoa. Freelance journalist Abdulrrahman Warssameh has been covering the conflict, and we reached him this morning in Mogadishu.
Somalia - Context
According to some observers, much of the lawlessness and political violence in Somalia today could actually have been prevented. Salim Lone, is a columnist with the Daily Nation in Kenya as well as the British newspaper, The Guardian. He is also the former spokesperson for Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga and a former spokesperson for the United Nations in Iraq. He joined us from London, England.
Somalia - U.S. Analyst
It's clear a number of international players have a vested interest in Somalia's future. But what's not clear is whether any of them are actually helping stabilize the situation. David Shinn is a Professor at George Washington University. He was the American Ambassador to Ethiopia from 1996 to 1999 and he was in Washington.
Somali pirates have successfully commandeered two more ships over the past 24 hours -- this time a Greek bulk carrier and Thai fishing boat. That brings the total to nine ships seized in the Gulf of Aden and off the Kenyan coast in the past two weeks... the most spectacular being the hijacking of a huge oil tanker on Sunday. One exception though, this morning the Indian navy is saying one of its warships fought off pirates and destroyed their vessel after a short battle.
The piracy is putting Somalia back in the headlines. After all, the alarming escalation in piracy in the waters off Africa's eastern coasts is largely rooted in the sheer anarchy and lack of any effective government in Somalia. And as bad as things got there in the early 1990s, some say the situation is worse now.
Years of conflict have left large parts of the country in the hands of warlords, while Ethiopian-backed government forces, African Union troops and armed insurgents fight for the capital city of Mogadishu. The city has been abandoned by at least half of its residents.
Now there are reports that the Islamic Courts, which controlled much of Somalia in 2006, is closing on Mogadishu again. And the Ethiopian-backed President - Abdullahi Yusuf - admits his government only has control in the cities of Mogadishu and Baidoa. Freelance journalist Abdulrrahman Warssameh has been covering the conflict, and we reached him this morning in Mogadishu.
Somalia - Context
According to some observers, much of the lawlessness and political violence in Somalia today could actually have been prevented. Salim Lone, is a columnist with the Daily Nation in Kenya as well as the British newspaper, The Guardian. He is also the former spokesperson for Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga and a former spokesperson for the United Nations in Iraq. He joined us from London, England.
Somalia - U.S. Analyst
It's clear a number of international players have a vested interest in Somalia's future. But what's not clear is whether any of them are actually helping stabilize the situation. David Shinn is a Professor at George Washington University. He was the American Ambassador to Ethiopia from 1996 to 1999 and he was in Washington.
Listen the full report: