UN chief says concerned by complicity between Somlia pirates and Puntland

March 18, 2009 (UNITED NATIONS) — The UN chief expressed concern today about links between the red sea pirate groups and the officials from the breakaway territory of Puntland.

In a report published Wednesday, Ban Ki-Moon, the UN Secretary General, mentioned an increasing complicity between the Somali pirates and members of the Somali region of Puntland administration.

The study prepared by Ban’s office identified two main groups located in Eyl district, and in the central Mudug region, where pirates operate mainly from the fishing village of Xarardheere.

The UN chief pointed out that by the end of last year, the “Eyl Group” was holding hostage six vessels and their crews and was expected to have earned roughly 30 million dollars in ransom money.

While the Mudug network had held the Ukrainian MV Faina vessel, and three other ships, for about five months from September 2008 to last month. The Faina with a crew of 20 was released on February 5 in exchange for a ransom estimated at 3.2 million dollars.

However Ban Ki-Moon said it was “encouraging to note that both the former and current leadership of (Puntland) appear to be taking a more robust approach in the fight against piracy and armed robbery at sea” off Somalia.

Pirates have been seizing vessels in the Gulf of Aden, which connects Europe to Asia and the Middle East via the Suez Canal, hijacking dozens of ships last year.

The International Maritime Bureau reported an unprecedented 11 percent worldwide increase in piracy and armed robbery at sea in 2008. Of the 293 incidents worldwide, 111 occurred off the coast of Somalia “an annual increase of nearly 200 percent in the critical trade corridor linking the Suez Canal and the Indian Ocean.”

In the first two months of 2009 there have been seven reported incidents of piracy and armed robbery in the Somali region.

The report said there is a “critical need” to tackle the problem of piracy and armed robbery off the coast of Somalia in a coordinated way — by promoting political reconciliation and the establishment of an effective government, supporting African Union peacekeeping efforts, and strengthening law enforcement institutions.

It encouraged U.N. members to help promote development and good government in Puntland and another breakaway region, Somaliland.

Somalia has had no effective central authority since the 1991 ouster of former president Mohamed Siad Barre touched off a bloody cycle of clashes between rival factions.

(ST)