CAIRO: As the American-flagged cargo ship Maersk Alabama fended off an attack on Wednesday, the world’s attention is back on the high seas. The Maersk Alabama had been central to a bloody hijacking ordeal last spring, but this time, the European Union’s anti-piracy force said the American ship fired back after Somali pirates attacked the vessel some 350 nautical miles east of Somalia.

The American Navy has said the cargo vessel fired at the pirates after they attempted to board the ship, and used explosive sounds to fend the pirates away.

Last April, a Danish-owned ship was attacked by pirates in the Indian Ocean and took the ship’s captain, Richard Phillips, hostage in their attempt to hijack the vessel. American Navy snipers killed three pirates five days later, rescued the captain and arrested a fourth pirate.

But, despite the international coverage of the piracy, the question of who these Somali individuals are continues to confound experts.

Here in Cairo, the Somali community has experienced little prejudice over the actions taken by the pirates, but when Egyptian ships were hijacked in January and April this year, many of their Egyptian acquaintances became agitated, says Abdullahi Osman, a Somali community leader in the Ard el Lowa area of Giza.

“It was very frustrating because most of the refugees here are not even from that area of Somalia and we don’t agree with what they are doing,” Osman argues.

He understands the situation and does not blame his Egyptian neighbors, but was adamant that people need to understand who the pirates are and their geographical location.

“These people come from the north of Somalia and have created their own little world within Somalia. They basically have taken over the towns and villages and established their own rule over the land,” he reveals.

The pirates, many as young as 15-years-old, have become the main source of income in the area, basically creating a little nation within the larger national boundaries of Somalia.

Ted Seel, a leading expert on global piracy and former American military attaché in Egypt and Yemen, says that piracy is not new to the region, but in recent years it has grown into almost “an industry” much like crab fishing in the United States’ Alaska.

He says that “unless there is some decisive action taken, that area could go the way of the Straits of Malaca, where this becomes the local industry.”

Osman agrees, reporting that through his contacts in his homeland, he has heard that the price of one cup of tea is $2, an exorbitant price for a country as impoverished as Somalia.

“It is unbearable that these pirates are taking over the area because people are struggling to survive, but with so much money they are getting from ransoms, it is the way of things. I just wish countries would not pay them because it makes doing what they do very profitable.

More worrisome, a former United Nations official living in Kenya says that the capacity of the pirates is growing rapidly. He revealed that a number of the pirates are beginning to buy up land in Eastern Kenya near the Somali border in order to build homes for their families and establish training facilities.

“Here in Kenya, officials are worried that the Eastern part of the country could become the bases of the pirates, creating a sort of situation similar to what exists in Pakistan and Afghanistan,” the official, who asked not to be named due to security concerns, began. He said that with the pirates comes lawlessness and an inability for the government to control the area.

“It would be extremely difficult for Nairobi to take control of that area. It is obvious that there needs to be some concerted action to curtail this practice,” the official argued.

Here in Cairo, a Somali businessman who called himself Ahmed, says that Somali piracy is growing. He confirmed that pirates have indeed bought up Kenyan land, but he also reveals that pirates are actively recruiting and have gone to the Middle East in search of Arabs willing to join their “business.”

Ahmed, who claimed to be one of the “accountants” for the pirates, says that the money flows into foreign banks and can be accessed in neighboring countries with ease. He was in Cairo to deposit a large sum of cash.

With the money heading out of Somalia in large amounts, it is becoming increasingly difficult to track who the actual pirates are and what they are financing with their ransoms, which can be as high as $20 million.

“It certainly is not going to the Somali community here in Cairo,” Osman admits. “We have no connection with the pirates and this is something we would like to keep that way.”

Since 1991, Somalia has been the scene of increasing violence, chaos and lawlessness. After local warlords toppled the former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre, the country has been wracked with violence and starvation, and to the anger of many locals there has been a constant binge of illegal fishing, industrial waste and toxic waste dumping.

So what can be done to stem the pirates influence in a country that is still attempting to re-establish itself as a proper nation in the international community.

Seel says there are a number of options. One would be to build up the country economically in order to make piracy “not worthwhile,” but he says this would take decades if not longer and the situation is more pressing.

“Establish an international zone. This would be similar to a no-fly zone, where maritime activity is absolutely prohibited unless it is under direct supervision of the French naval squadron or one of the elements that are currently operating in that area,” argues Seel.

“Now that is going to be difficult to manage, but without a functioning government in Somalia and the coastal areas of Eritrea and Yemen, right now the pirates not only have a safe haven, but they almost certainly have active encouragement.”

For now, as the pirates strength appears to be continuing unabated, the questions will pile up until the international community takes the threats to heart and begins to establish some sort of security apparatus to battle the seizing of vessels traveling through the Suez Canal.

BM