The surge of Somali pirate raids off the east African coast, coupled with the disintegration of the country into political chaos, is causing global consternation. And, so what, asks Gamal Nkrumah Bravely sticking to their unique way of life may ultimately make heroes of a handful of Somali pirate leaders. The Somali pirates are placing their bets on an ungovernable Somalia and they are not shy of taking some big gambles. There are pots to be made in piracy. Warlords and former Somali coastguards with the money and the nerve to stay in the game are going to make a fortune in the months to come. Piracy revenues in the shattered Somali economy have rocketed to an all-time high. The high sea piracy industry is thriving in Somalia. In an unprecedented development, just days ago Somali pirates seized a Saudi supertanker loaded with 2 million barrels of crude oil -- the tanker, the Sirus Star with a crew of 25 members, was actually larger than an aircraft carrier. "An outrageous act," said a flabbergasted Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal. US naval forces, however, declined to intervene, as an assault might cause an environmental catastrophe of unheard- of magnitude. It is not just warlords that evolve in war- torn Somalia. Pirates do too. And, much of the latters' dynamism has arisen in tandem with the political chaos that characterises their country. Somalia has no central government to force the pirates out of Somali territorial waters and no army or police force capable of chasing the pirates and bringing them to book. Hijacking ships loaded with goodies such as crude, wheat or weapons has thus become a way of life for many Somalis. Refusing to acknowledge their responsibility in how this disturbing phenomenon came about, Western nations and Arab countries are at a loss as to how to cope with the pirates. Imposing a Western- puppet government in Mogadishu, shutting out the popular, incorruptible Council of Islamic Courts (CICs) and encouraging a hated Ethiopian occupation of the hapless country guaranteed the present chaos. Despite this, there are no immediate plans of containing the problem of piracy. Until the discovery of oil reserves in vast quantities in the Middle East, the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea and the western Indian Ocean Rim were a bit of a backwater. The Suez Canal emerged as a major shipping lane for tankers en route to Europe. It, therefore, comes as no surprise that Egypt and the oil-rich Gulf Arab states are among the most clearly distressed countries by what has happened to the Sirus Star. Worse, the nightmare is far from over. The question is not whether the world can cope with piracy but how. A multinational naval force has been set up to patrol waters between the Arabian peninsula and the Horn of Africa. But without addressing the underlying political realities, this will solve nothing. At the moment President Abdallah Youssef is at loggerheads with his Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein over who has Washington's ear. Neither dares set foot in Mogadishu, and sit twiddling their fingers in their five-star fortified suites in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. For now, most of the top brass in the Horn of Africa nations is incapable or unwilling to interfere in the intractable Somali piracy crisis. Too much is at stake for them politically, all rightly fearing the accession of a strict Islamic government which alone could wrestle some order into the country. In practice, it is inconceivable that the Ethiopians -- who proved to be inept at policing Somalia -- would give chase to the Somali pirates. The sooner they retire to their homeland, the better for Somalia. The emergence of the Al-Shabab (Youth) movement of militant Islamists, an offshoot of the CICs as the most powerful player in the Somali political scene has compounded matters. In the short-term, the Shabab's holding of the reins in huge swathes of central and southern Somalia and their determination to promulgate Islamic Sharia law in the areas they control, enhances -- at least for the time being -- the power of the pirates. In the longer term, however, the Shabab might prove to be the key factor in the containment of piracy in Somalia. The growing challenge from the militant Shabab is fast making the political situation in Somalia untenable. However, with the total discrediting of the Ethiopian occupation and the Quisling government in Nairobi, they have emerged as the only group worth speaking to in the country, if there is a serious desire to end piracy. Somali President Abdallah Youssef's administration has lacked both the vision and the political courage to pursue radical reforms. He has conceded that his forces do not hold political sway in the country. Al-Shabab offer an opportunity for a fresh start. History suggests that with the right political leadership, Somalia is quite capable of seizing it. The pirates were said to have towed the Sirus Star to the port of Eyl in the autonomous region of Puntland which together with Somaliland constitute self-styled independent political entities. Harardhere, another pirate stronghold, is also a possible destination for vessels such as the Sirus Star. The US navy successfully "buzzed" a Ukrainian cargo vessel loaded with tanks and weapons on 25 September. However, the Ukrainian ship, the Faina, remains firmly in pirate hands. Scores of ships are stranded in Somali ports and there is nothing that can be done to rescue them. The Indians are one up on the big guys, actually sinking a suspected pirate vessel in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday. But the time left to deal with the pirates is fast running out. The pirates drive a hard bargain. They loot the ship and negotiate the price of releasing the crew. It seems to happen every time. No one has a clue whether the Shabab are in league with the pirates. And what if they are? This is a Robin Hood scenario, and religion has no qualms about "stealing" from the rich. What is clear is that the pirates use state-of-the-art technology in their business. They are not fools and have displayed breathtaking courage in their exploits. Put in the perspective of the world's many unfolding horrors, what is the price of a few lootings? The pirates don't kill or torture, as the US does around the world every day, nor do they rake in stolen billions as white-collar criminals in the international financial world. These Robin Hoods are celebrated in such Hollywood box- office hits as "Bonnie and Clyde". They are merely adventurous Sindbads, thumbing their noses at the pompous powers-that-be.
