Somali pirates remain defiant in face of world's warships

REAR-ADMIRAL Giovanni Gumiero is going on a pirate hunt. From the deck of an Italian destroyer cruising the pirate- infested waters off Somalia, he has all the modern tools at his fingertips – radar, sonar, infrared cameras, helicopters, a cannon that can sink a ship ten miles away – to take on a centuries-old problem that harks back to the days of men o' war and eye patches.

"Our presence will deter them," he said confidently.

More than a dozen warships from Italy, Greece, Turkey, India, Denmark, Saudi Arabia, France, Russia, Britain, Malaysia and the United States have joined the hunt. But the pirates do not seem especially deterred. In the two months since the patrols started, they have attacked more than 30 vessels – two more were taken yesterday – eluding the navy ships, going farther out to sea and seeking bigger, more lucrative game, including a cruise ship and a 1,000ft Saudi oil tanker.

The pirates are recalibrating their tactics, attacking ships in swarms of 20 to 30 skiffs, and threatening to choke off one of the busiest shipping arteries in the world, at the mouth of the Red Sea.

The pirates are totally outgunned. They cruise around in fibreglass boats with assault rifles and, at best, a few rocket-propelled grenades. One Italian officer said going after them in the 485ft destroyer Durand de la Penne, bristling with surface-to-air missiles and torpedoes, was like "going after someone on a bicycle with a truck".

But the pirates are unfazed. "They can't stop us," said Jama Ali, one of the outlaws aboard a Ukrainian freighter packed with weapons that was hijacked in September.

He explained how he and his men hid out on a rock near the narrow mouth of the Red Sea and waited for the big grey ships with guns to pass before pouncing on slow-moving tankers. Even if foreign navies seize some members of his crew, Jama is not worried. He said his men would probably get no more punishment than a free ride back to the beach, which has happened several times. "We know international law," he said.

Western diplomats say maritime law can be as murky as the seas. Several times this year, the Danish navy captured men they suspected to be pirates, only to dump them on shore after the Danish government decided it did not have jurisdiction.

This seeming impunity is especially infuriating to the new cadre of private security guards, fresh from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, hired to tag along on merchant voyages to add a layer of protection.

Burly men with tattooed forearms and shaved heads sipping Heineken and checking their watches are now common sights on the beaches of Oman, Kenya and Djibouti. They have their own ideas for dealing with seafaring outlaws. "We should make 'em walk the plank," one British security guard said.

Despite the tough talk, the guards are unarmed – most countries do not allow them to take weapons into port – so they are often forced to confront armed pirates with fire hoses. Or worse.

There was a recent case, according to several security contractors, in which Filipino crew members pelted pirates with tomatoes in an attempt to stop them from scaling the hull of their ship. It didn't work.

Italian naval officers say the patrols are helping – they have rescued several merchant vessels surrounded by pirate skiffs. "But the answer is to have a good, strong government on land," Admiral Gumiero said. "That's the only way to end this, for sure."

The Italians said that deep down, pirates were creatures of the sea, no matter how many navy ships were on their tail. "When the sea is calm, the moon is bright, the weather is good, it's easy to see how the pirates are encouraged," a crew member said.

For visitors on board, lunchtime was the highlight. The officers summoned up from the oily bowels of the destroyer a banquet of homemade pasta, marinated aubergine sliced paper thin, prosciutto-wrapped dates and tiramisu, finished off with cool glasses of spumante. It seems when Italians hunt for pirates, they hunt in style.

Internal dispute brings government close to collapse

SOMALIA'S UN-backed government started crumbling yesterday, as the president defied parliament and Kenya announced sanctions against him in a strong public rebuke.

The dispute does nothing to stabilise the administration, which wields virtually no authority in the face of powerful Islamic insurgents who have taken over most of the Horn of Africa country.

Civilians have suffered most from the violence surrounding the insurgency, with thousands killed or maimed.

This week, Abdullahi Yusuf, the Somali president, unilaterally fired Nur Hassan Hussein, the prime minister, after months of public feuds over the best way to bring peace. But parliament soundly rejected Mr Yusuf's decision and voted to keep the premier.

Yesterday, however, Mr Yusuf announced he was appointing Mohamed Mohamud Guled, a former interior minister, as the new prime minister.

Hours later, Moses Wetangula, Kenya's foreign minister, described Mr Yusuf as an obstacle to peace and announced a series of sanctions, including a travel ban and the freezing of any of his assets held in Kenya.

Somalia has been without an effective government since 1991, when warlords overthrew a dictatorship and then turned on one another.