Somali Pirates Live The Good Life

Lavish Spending By Sea-Going Bandits Makes Them Heroes To People Of Poor Coastal Villages

(AP)  Somalia's increasingly brazen pirates are building sprawling stone houses, cruising in luxury cars, marrying beautiful women - even hiring caterers to prepare Western-style food for their hostages.

And in an impoverished country where every public institution has crumbled, they have become heroes in the steamy coastal dens they operate from because they are the only real business in town.

"The pirates depend on us, and we benefit from them," said Sahra Sheik Dahir, a shop owner in Haradhere, the nearest village to where a hijacked Saudi Arabian supertanker carrying $100 million in crude was anchored Wednesday.

These boomtowns are all the more shocking in light of Somalia's violence and poverty: Radical Islamists control most of the country's south, meting out lashings and stonings for accused criminals. There has been no effective central government in nearly 20 years, plunging this arid African country into chaos.

Life expectancy is just 46 years; a quarter of children die before they reach 5.

But in northern coastal towns like Haradhere, Eyl and Bossaso, the pirate economy is thriving thanks to the money pouring in from pirate ransoms that have reached $30 million this year alone.

In Haradhere, residents came out in droves to celebrate as the looming oil ship came into focus this week off the country's lawless coast. Businessmen started gathering cigarettes, food and cold glass bottles of orange soda, setting up small kiosks for the pirates who come to shore to re-supply almost daily.

Dahir said she is so confident in the pirates, she instituted a layaway plan just for them.

"They always take things without paying and we put them into the book of debts," she told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "Later, when they get the ransom money, they pay us a lot."

For Somalis, the simple fact that pirates offer jobs is enough to gain their esteem, even as hostages languish on ships for months. The population makes sure the pirates are well-stocked in qat, a popular narcotic leaf, and offer support from the ground even as the international community tries to quash them.

"Regardless of how the money is coming in, legally or illegally, I can say it has started a life in our town," said Shamso Moalim, a 36-year-old mother of five in Haradhere.

"Our children are not worrying about food now, and they go to Islamic schools in the morning and play soccer in the afternoon. They are happy."

Despite a beefed-up international presence, the pirates continue to seize ships, moving further out to sea and demanding ever-larger ransoms. The pirates operate mostly from the semiautonomous Puntland region, where local lawmakers have been accused of helping the pirates and taking a cut of the ransoms.

For the most part, however, the regional officials say they have no power to stop piracy.

Meanwhile, towns that once were eroded by years of poverty and chaos are now bustling with restaurants, Land Cruisers and Internet cafes. Residents also use their gains to buy generators - allowing full days of electricity, once an unimaginable luxury in Somalia.

There are no reliable estimates of the number of pirates operating in Somalia, but they must number in the thousands. And though the bandits do sometimes get nabbed, piracy is generally considered a sure bet to a better life.

NATO and the U.S. Navy say they can't be everywhere, and American officials are urging ships to hire private security. Warships patrolling off Somalia have succeeded in stopping some pirate attacks. But military assaults to wrest back a ship are highly risky and, up to now, uncommon.

The attackers generally treat their hostages well in anticipation of a big payday, hiring caterers on shore to cook spaghetti, grilled fish and roasted meat that will appeal to a Western palate. They also keep a steady supply of cigarettes and drinks from the shops on shore.

And when the payday comes, the money sometimes literally falls from the sky.

Pirates say the ransom arrives in burlap sacks, sometimes dropped from buzzing helicopters, or in waterproof suitcases loaded onto tiny skiffs in the roiling, shark-infested sea.

"The oldest man on the ship always takes the responsibility of collecting the money, because we see it as very risky, and he gets some extra payment for his service later," Aden Yusuf, a pirate in Eyl, told AP over VHF radio.

The pirates use money-counting machines - the same technology seen at foreign exchange bureaus worldwide - to ensure the cash is real. All payments are done in cash because Somalia, a failed state, has no functioning banking system.

"Getting this equipment is easy for us, we have business connections with people in Dubai, Nairobi, Djibouti and other areas," Yusuf said. "So we send them money and they send us what we want."

[clancy49]

Thank you harp1963. I laughed very hard. The funniest stories are the real ones and all you can do is laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. America is under the firm control of legal criminals. And we let these legal crime bills be passed.

[heero78-2009]

Our wall street pirates got $700 million this year. The Somalis are still waaaay behind.

[babooph]

In two minutes,on google earth ,I can see the 12 ft boat in my yard-the US navy-with what I pay in taxes cannot locate the pirate vessels because the area is big-SO IS THE COUNTRY MY YARD IS IN !!!!

[troutfisher4]

argggh, matey!

[liberate40]

Round up all the pirates and Al-Qaeda thugs. Have UN troops takeover Somalia and establish a stable government and rule of law.

[harp1963]

Why should pirates leading the good life surprise us? Most of America''s "elite" families started out as criminals and gangsters. Once the money is made, then they send their kids to Yale or Harvard and the cime family becomes professional white collar criminals. Then they run for political office, cover up any family crimes, and make laws that allow their crime families to steal from other legally. It''s America 2008. War profiteers, bootleggers, drug dealers, they''re running our country and the FBI is tapping your phone because you complain about the grandson of a guy who traded with Germany/Hitler during WW 2, Prescott Bush, being the worst President in the country''s history.

What a country we live in, poor schmucks work 80 hours a week barely getting by and the bookies in Vegas make 65 million dollars off of a bad call at the end of the Steelers 11-10 win over the Chargers last weekend. And Pirates living the good life makes news in America. They might as well of done a story about grade school kids liking the crust cut off of their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

[emperorlotku]

Just send a squadron of fighter jets along the Somalian coastline on a weekly basis for a month or two. Blow up every Somalian ship they find to hell and back and you wont have the pirates anymore. Seems to me if a pirate wants to be a pirate, he needs a ship.

[caco58]

Arrrrr!! Has anyone seen Captain Jack Sparrow?? Time for Blackwater to do their job. Give em a .50 cal Barrett M107 and blow some heads off at 1500 meters. Oh, you say they are moving very fast, ok.... wait till they stop.... then blow their bloody heads off!!!

[txgrouch2007]

I was a pirate for Halloween. While I was popular, I didn''''t do nearly as well as these guys.
Posted by newsjunky5 at 06:17 PM : Nov 19, 2008

You should have dressed as Paulson or Greenspan. Those guys look REALLY scary.

And they live the pirate''s life, with the loot to go with it.

[txgrouch2007]

Time for nations to start issueing "letters of marques" to privateers. There''''s a lot of good sailors out there "on the beach" due to all the jobs going to third world countries. Give ''''em a chance to make a living by capturing these pirates and keeping their ships as prizes.
Posted by joeshields56 at 07:59 PM : Nov 19, 2008

LOL! So, are you saying this is yet ANOTHER part of the global economy where we can''t compete???

We MUST CLOSE the PIRATING GAP!!!

Yes, I know what a lot of you Democrats are thinking - hey, that lifestyle looks pretty good.

Well, of course it looks good to you - THAT WAS THE CLINTON YEARS. Enron, Worldcomm, Andersen Accounting. Those were our LAND PIRATES...

Yo ho, aye matey! Be that a cigar I see in your hand...?

Oh, wait - you were talking about STOPPING the pirates, not JOINING them. Oops, my mistake...

[joeshields56]

Time for nations to start issueing "letters of marques" to privateers. There''s a lot of good sailors out there "on the beach" due to all the jobs going to third world countries. Give ''em a chance to make a living by capturing these pirates and keeping their ships as prizes.

[clovisbuford]

the pirates financing is through dubai as is their money laundering,the same place as Halliburtons new headquarters.. just pirates of a smaller scale, the somali''s, they will capture the wrong ship ,kill the wrong man and the wrath will fall on them ..up till then they are an annoyance "the cost of doing buisiness"

[tpraskac]

hey maharajaG GO THE HELL BACK TO INDIA WE DONT NEED YA TAKING OUR JOBS

[tpraskac]

Give the large ships guns, bombs or whatever and destroy the pirates when they come. why let these runts control us. Please think a little it aint to hard.

[tpraskac]

What the hell is wrong give the vessels small bombs and when the pirates come along throw it into boat and blow them out. HOW SIMPLE IS THAT TO THINK OF Please what the hell is wrong with our thinking today.

[doorgunner3]

How much do they demand for hostages?

A buck an ear.

Arrrrr!

[doorgunner3]

Somali pirates, Wall Street bankers.

Both seem to be doing well in the hostage biz.

[newsjunky5]

I was a pirate for Halloween. While I was popular, I didn''t do nearly as well as these guys.

[enlightenu]

saudis should send in their own navy and/or mercenaries to get their oil back! Why US or nato?

Posted by americanese1 at 01:58 PM : Nov 19, 2008

Bacause the Saudis say, if you want it so bad you go get it.

[airboatboy1]

no you dont have finest navy.... move over...INDIA HAS THE FINEST NAVY AND THEY HAVE PROVED IT ALREADY.


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Posted by MaharajaG at 05:44 PM : Nov 19, 2008

Ya, right.