8 October 2008
editorial
Nairobi — The decision by the United Nations Security Council to sanction international navy vessels and military aircraft to use "all necessary means" to stamp out piracy off the coast of Somalia gives a seal of approval to those countries whose warships are surrounding the hijacked Mv Faina and to attack it and free the hostages and military hardware cargo.
However, whether that is a practicable solution to this particular act of piracy is not clear. After all, had the issue been that simple, the standoff that has lasted a fortnight now would have been over long ago.
The hesitation, it can be assumed, could be because in the event of such an attack, the human collateral damage would prove to be too high -- at least 20 innocent crew members -- and the lesson learnt by the pirates too little to be of much use.
What is even more disconcerting is Foreign minister Moses Wetang'ula's statement that the Kenya Navy will "fight the pirates anywhere and everywhere" to keep the high seas safe, and would patrol Somalia's territorial waters to secure the Indian Ocean coast.
Such bravado would make sense if only he could prove that our navy is equipped well enough to sail into the murky waters of international crime.
Nevertheless, something has to give. But it is not clear whether paying the ransom demanded -- scaled down to $8 million from a high of $20million two weeks ago -- will be the solution either.
What is not negotiable is that the 33 T-72 tanks and huge cache of high-calibre rifles on board must not fall into the hands of the lawless warlords in Somalia, for that would upset the balance of power, not only in Somalia, but in the whole of eastern Africa.
What is required is a solution to the problem, which will lead to as little loss of life as possible. And instead of sabre-rattling in a situation as fraught with danger as this, maybe the United Nations should be thinking of employing the services of negotiators skilled in the art of handling hostage situations.
Once the hostages are free, and the deadly cargo secured, then the international community must strike once and for all and rid the Somali coast of this growing and extremely costly menace of piracy.
At the moment, precipitate action is certainly not advised -- too much is at stake, whether we are dealing with an organised international criminal syndicate, or a ragtag bunch of pirates employing the services of high-velocity grenade launchers and communicating through satellite phones.
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Actually that might be a good idea. If they have enough education to read they might realize the dire consequence of their actions and their impending death. Some people never know how long they will live. These pirates actually have a chance to make their wills and kiss their family good by. That is the way to die. For a Russian Tank. I can see the tombstone. Here lies a true Somalian. He died for a Russian Tank. How brave. How noble. How stupid.
May be we should also supply copies of daily nation newspapers to them.