In the past, the difference between terrorists and pirates was recognizable: each possessed distinct strategic goals, achieved through the same medium?the sea. More recent events, however, suggest that this distinction is becoming less clear. Terrorist organizations, like al-Qaeda , are collaborating with various piracy groups in strategic waterways to achieve broader and more destructive goals. Incidents of piracy are much higher and are more successful in relatively weak states, where the government has little to no power over their territorial waters. This is one reason Somalia has been a safe haven for pirates/terrorists. The increase of maritime terrorist attacks and piracy in the Horn of Africa region, and internationally, has called worldwide attention to Somalia , where the Juba Valley Alliance seized Chisimayu, the country?s most popular and largest seaport . Even more pressing is the Islamic Courts Union (ICU; Group Profile) militia leader?s, Hassan Turki, public recognition that foreign Muslims were being brought into Somalia to bolster his forces. Because of the ICU?s possible links to al-Qaeda or other terrorist organizations, Chisimayu could turn into a Somali stage to launch more pirate attacks.
Piracy in Somalia
According to the International Maritime Organization?s (IMO) quarterly and weekly reports, in the summer of 2005, Somalia was the most dangerous region for piracy with nine pirate incidents from August 9-15 alone (link). Last year proved to be one of the most active years for piracy of the coast of Somali:
? June 27, 2005 – capture of the MV Semlow resulted in over nine weeks of failed ransom negotiations to return the seized UN-chartered ship carrying tsunami aid to Somalia .
? August 19, 2005 – 40 crewmembers from three fishing boats held off Somali coast, pirates engaged in negotiations with local militia leader.
? March 29, 2006 ? a dozen armored Somali pirates hijack a UAE-registered oil tanker, kidnapping 19 Filipino crewmembers. They also demanded a high ransom .
? November 5, 2005 – Seabourn Spirit cruise ship ? a subsidiary of Carnival Corp. attacked by gunmen in speedboats 100 miles off coast of Somalia .
Because Somalia is a weak state with no effective deterrent for pirates and/or terrorists, the likelihood of Somalia?s port cities being used as a springboard for maritime terrorist acts is severe. However, the Horn of Africa is not the only stage for such attacks.
Piracy and Maritime Terrorism ? a Global Threat
Until recently, the largest threat of international piracy and maritime terrorism has been in Indonesia , with 44 pirate attacks in the first six months of 2002 and nine more in the nearby Strait of Malacca. In August 2005, Abdullah al-Azzam Brigades of the al-Qaeda Organization in the Levant and Egypt, aka The Martyr Abdullah Azzam Brigades of the al-Qaeda Organization , announced over the Internet that its ?fighters? had fired three Katyusha rockets at ?US vessels in Jordan [Country Profile] and at Israel?s [Country Profile] Eilat airfield?before returning safely to base? . Furthermore, in 2003, British intelligence sources reported that al-Qaeda had purchased at least 15 ships since 2001, and those numbers are likely to have increased, creating a formidable terrorist naval force.
In the context of international maritime terrorism, pirates and terrorists are working together to exploit the unfettered waters and the vulnerability of cargo and civilian ships. Not only do pirates operate in the world?s most dangerous areas, like in port cities of weak states with little to no government presence to serve as a deterrent, but also along the world?s most vital oil transit chokepoints, or narrow channels. Five of the seven oil transit chokepoints are in Islamists? areas of operation: the Straits of Malacca (Indonesia/Thailand/Malaysia), Straits of Hormuz (Iran/Oman), Bab el-Mandab (Yemen/Horn of Africa), the Suez Canal and Sumed Pipeline, and the Bosporus/Turkish Straits. It is a direct threat to the global economy that Islamists, loyal to al-Qaeda, are in five of the seven oil transit chokepoints. Al-Qaeda has steadily shown its interest and influence in piracy, and naval attacks, by putting its fingerprints on most modern maritime attempts and attacks.
Al-Qaeda?s Interest and Influence in Maritime Terrorism
The capture of Abd al Rahman al Nashiri in November 2002 revealed the scope of al-Qaeda?a maritime activities for the first time. As Osama bin Laden?s Operations Chief in the Persian Gulf and Yemen , al Nashiri masterminded the suicide attack on
USS Cole , as well as an identical attempted attack on the USS Sullivans nine months earlier . Specializing in naval demolition sabotage, al Nashiri had developed a four-pronged strategy to attack Western-shipping targets (source):
1. Ramming vulnerable vessels at sea,
2. Blowing up medium-sized vessels at ports,
3. Attacking vulnerable, large cargo ships such as supertankers from the air by using explosive-laden small aircraft, and
4. Underwater attacks by divers or suicide demolition teams, using limpet mines.
Based on intelligence reports analyzing the methodology of attacks, this guide to maritime terrorism has spread to co-opted agents who are either directly linked to al-Qaeda, working on its behalf, or even worse, freelance independents. In fact, intelligence reports point out that the Jamaah Islamiah , a known al-Qaeda-linked group, has been training in maritime guerrilla tactics, including suicide scuba diving and ramming.
Strategic Gains and Future Implications
Among other things, al-Qaeda is interested in using vessels to close major straights and oil chokepoints in order to disrupt and damage Western economic interests, as well as conduct maritime mass casualty attacks. Other more strategic interests include seizing hazardous cargo on board and using it to carry out terrorism plots. One of the worst fears from piracy on maritime shipping is posed to the transportation of mixed oxide (MOX) fuel rods, which is reprocessed from concentrated uranium fuel rods. Western naval intelligence and nuclear experts have issued warning explaining that enough plutonium from MOX could serve in constructing a crude nuclear device or a ?dirty? bomb. Given al-Qaeda?s record and intensity of attacks, it is more than likely that, should pirates gain access to any one of these ships, they could use it as a ?floating? bomb to attack a major port, for example, where the terrorists could dock.
Given the uniformity of cargo containers, terrorists could use them to smuggle Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) into a port city or state. With the US-led coalition?s advancement in breaking down al-Qaeda networks on land, terrorists are likely to turn to the uncontrollable, unsecured waters of weak states.
