Freakonomics » Pirate Economics, Somali Edition

Freakonomics » 

(Photo: UK Ministry of Defence)

An Economist article looks at a new study by the International Criminal Police Organization, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and World Bank on the economics of Somali piracy, including pirate earnings:

The authors interviewed current and former pirates, their financial backers, government officials, middlemen and others. They estimate that between $339m and $413m was paid in ransoms off the Somali coast between 2005 and 2012. The average haul was $2.7m. Ordinary pirates usually get $30,000-75,000 each, with a bonus of up to $10,000 for the first man to board a ship and for those bringing their own weapon or ladder.

The article also explores the financing and profit of pirate expeditions, and how ransom money trickles down:

Financing pirate expeditions can be quite cheap by comparison. The most basic ones cost a few hundred dollars, which may be covered by those taking part. Bigger expeditions, involving several vessels, may cost $30,000 and require professional financing, This comes from former police and military officers or civil servants, qat dealers, fishermen and former pirates. They take anywhere between 30% and 75% of the ransom.
A typical operation has three to five investors. Some provide loans or investment advice to other financiers. Some financiers, especially those in the Somali diaspora who have little cash inside Somalia but large deposits abroad, employ what the report describes as “trade-based money-laundering” to send funds to Somalia. This involves finding legitimate Somali importers willing to use a financier’s foreign money to pay for their shipments and reimburse him at home in cash once the goods are sold.

(HT: Marginal Revolution)

Video: Terrorists in Nairobi rented store for months before the attack

As investigators sift through the rubble of the partially-collapsed Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi, a major new development in the aftermath of the terrorist attack has been made public. The al-Shabaab operation didn’t start at the mall on the day of the attack, but began three months earlier when the group leased a retail space in the mall as cover for their preparations. ABC News reports that Kenyan authorities are now trying to determine whether the group cached weapons in the store to serve as their armory for the attack:

Keep reading on Hot Air >>

American drone crashes amid militant fighting in Somalia

Fox News

A U.S. reconnaissance drone has crashed in Somalia, but it’s unclear if it was shot down by Islamist militants, a senior U.S. official tells Fox News.

The crash happened Tuesday in the southern Shabelle region, where African troops are fighting al Shabaab insurgents, the provincial governor told Reuters.

Abdikadir Mohamed Nur said the Al Qaeda-linked group had shot at the drone for several hours, eventually hitting it.

"Finally they hit it and the drone crashed," Nur told Reuters.

The cause of the crash has not been determined, and the U.S. official told Fox News that it is still being investigated. The official says it is unlikely it was shot down by militants.

Kenyan, Ethiopian and African Union forces are fighting al Shabaab, the group driven out of Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, in 2011. They hope to prevent the militant group from gaining ground in eastern Africa.

The U.S. does not disclose drone activities in Somalia, but they have been used to kill Somali and al Shabaab militants, according to Reuters.

The Friends Committee on National Legislation, a lobbying group, says U.S. Predator and Reaper drones cost around $2,500 to $3,500 to operate each flight hour.

Click for more from Reuters.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/05/28/american-drone-crashes-amid-militant-fighting-in-somalia/?test=latestnews#ixzz2Un0TrpGY

Probe focuses on Canadian as Shabab leader of Somalia courthouse attack

Toronto Star

FEISAL OMAR / REUTERS

By: Michelle Shephard National Security Reporter

As the death toll rises in Mogadishu following Sunday’s suicide bombings, Somali investigators are increasingly focusing on a Canadian who they believe led the multinational commando unit, which allegedly included fighters with Swedish citizenship, the Star has learned.

Mahad Ali Dhore, a university student who grew up in a suburban neighbourhood north of Toronto, left Canada nearly four years ago to join Somalia’s Al Qaeda proxy, Al Shabab.

Sources close to the investigation who spoke to the Star on the condition of anonymity said they believe Dhore organized the assault Sunday on Mogadishu’s Supreme Court. The nine-member squad reportedly stormed the complex and shot lawyers, civilians and journalists during a two-hour gun battle with security forces before most of them detonated their suicide bomb vests.

A separate car bomb later hit a vehicle carrying Turkish aid officials.

There are also unconfirmed reports under investigation that a second Canadian was part of the squad, along with Somali fighters from Sweden.

In a statement Monday, Somali Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon confirmed that the militants included experienced foreign fighters but he did not state their nationalities.

The death toll from the attack — the worst since the Shabab pulled out of the capital in August 2011 — kept rising Monday, reaching as many as 35, including the nine militants.

Al Shabab immediately claimed responsibility for the attack and vowed that more would follow.

In an online interview with the Star, a former Shabab member, Alabama-born Omar Hammami, claimed he had recently spoken with Dhore.

The U.S. State Department has offered a $5-million bounty for information leading to the capture of Hammami, who had a public fallout with the Shabab last year and says he no longer supports the group.

“He called me weeks back to give me a hard time about my stances against (the) Shabab,” he wrote to the Star from a Twitter account which he is widely believed to author.

“He told us to stop creating disunity. He told me to just accept prison. He was following anything they fed him,” he wrote. “Dangerous stuff.”

Canadian authorities would not comment on the case but Ottawa has limited reach inside Somalia, despite Canada now being home to one of the world’s largest Somali diasporas and the fact that many Somali-Canadians hold senior positions within Mogadishu’s new government.

RCMP spokesman Sgt. Greg Cox said in a statement that the federal police force is working with “relevant domestic and international partners to gather information.”

The RCMP is actively involved in another investigation of Canadians at the forefront of a terrorist attack. Ali Medlej and Xristos Katsiroubas, high school friends from London, Ont., were reportedly two of the leaders of a mid-January attack at an Algerian gas plant that killed 37 hostages.

Mogadishu had been enjoying a period of relative calm and reconstruction until Sunday’s blast. Reuters reported that African peacekeeping troops blocked streets Monday and searched houses for any Shabab loyalists.

Abdirashid Hashi, deputy director for Mogadishu-based think tank Heritage Institute for Policy Studies, said the fact the group was able to hit the heart of the capital will force Somalia’s new government to “revisit its priorities.”

“If it fails to provide security to the citizens in the capital . . . (the government) will have difficulties justifying its demands in extending its writ to other parts of the country,” Hashi wrote in an email.

US bank stops money transfers to Somalia

Twitter of Terror: Somalia’s al-Shabaab unveils a new social media strategy for militants

Slate Magazine/ By Will Oremus|

The Somali terror group al-Shabaab appears to have a Twitter account, @HSMPress Photograph by Abdurashid Abikar/AFP/Getty Images.

Al-Shabaab, the Somali militant group heretofore best known for stoning teenage girls, blowing up soccer fans, and blocking food aid to their starving countrymen, is now on Twitter. You can talk to them if you like.

Al-Shabaab’s handle is HSMPress, HSM being the initials of al-Shabaab’s formal moniker. No one knows for certain that HSMPress—which has about 6,000 followers—speaks for al-Shabaab; the account holder’s identity is a mystery. I tweeted at HSMPress and emailed hsm.press@yahoo.com asking if the feed was genuine, and I got a polite reply affirming that it was. HSMPress has on several occasions tweeted what seems to be evidence of its authenticity, such as the identification cards of enemies killed in action and an audio clip of a captured Burundian soldier. If it’s not al-Shabaab, it does a very good al-Shabaab impression.

The U.S government seems to be taking the terrorist Twitter account seriously. The New York Times, citing anonymous American officials, reported this week that the U.S government was looking into shutting it down. I talked with a State Department spokeswoman who wouldn’t confirm that outright, but told me, “We are looking closely at the facts of this situation to determine what the appropriate next steps might be.”  More >>

2 Somali muslim women convicted in Minnesota terror case

Belligerent hijabi [Somali women] refuses to stand in court

A group of some 30 Muslim women, some reluctant to appear on camera and all refusing to give their names, have vowed to stand in solidarity with the two Somali defendants. They say they plan to be in court every day, and they claim there's no way Amina Farah Ali and Hawo Mohamed Hassan conspired to aid Somali terrorists.

"To me she is a victim of the confusing Somali post civil war system, where you have a country that is so messed up," explained Omar Jamal, who's been serving as the women's unofficial interpreter and assisting them with cultural matters. He also met last night with defendant Ali to convince her of the need to respect the court--and to stand when necessary.

"I explained to all of the Somalis that they're not standing up to the judge or anybody they're standing up out of respect to the system," he said.

Yet some of the supporters of the two women also failed to stand in court today. Outside the courthouse, one of them explained, "Our religion says don't stand unle... More >

← MINNESOTA Somali Muslim bagheads to stand trial on terrorist financing charges

Bare Naked Islam

CBS (H/T Susan K) A Minnesota Muslim woman on trial for allegedly funneling money to a terrorist group in Somalia was found in contempt of court Monday when she refused to stand for the judge and jury, citing religious grounds. Chief U.S. District Judge Michael Davis found Amina Farah Ali in contempt for failing to stand as court convened and recessed several times during the day, and later sentenced her to 50 days in jail.

He also ordered Ali to be detained for the duration of the trial because of her “behavior in this courtroom.” She had been released pending trial as long as she did not violate any laws, but in a written order on Monday, Davis said Ali violated the law when she failed to rise and he revoked her release.

Ali, 35, and her co-defendant, Hawo Mohamed Hassan, 64, are accused of being part of what prosecutors called a “deadly pipeline” that sent more than $8,600 and fighters from the U.S. to Somalia.

Read more >

Somali Pirates Hold Over 500 Hostages And Close To 50 Ships

Somali pirates currently hold at least 504 hostages or captives – including a South-African yachting couple – as well as 30 large ships, plus 18 smaller foreign vessels and one stranded barge. This is the latest tally, according to the Ecoterra, which claimed, that “even EU NAVFOR, who mostly only counts high-value, often British insured [...]
Read more >

Videographic: Somali Piracy

EconomistMagazine

 Stronger states can fix piracy. With the right financial incentives, Indonesia and Malaysia did; Somalia can't

Memo Confirms #Terrorists Have Crossed the #Border (PJM Exclusive)

by Patrick Poole

PJM reveals a court filing showing that federal prosecutors have admitted a terror threat involving an Al-Shabaab human smuggler who claimed asylum.
READ

Somali pirates’ area doubled to 2 million sqm-Scan Eagle Stars In Piracy Fight

By Colin Clark

The number of hostages taken by Somali pirates has almost doubled although multinational naval task forces have grown and improved in coordination. At the same time, the pirates’ area of operation has almost doubled to 2 million square miles, making the task of patrolling and responding that much harder. A key answer, said several experts with experience in the region, is Scan Eagle, the Boeing-made UAV.

“Scan Eagle type UAS is just great to have out there,” said recently retired Rear Adm.  Terence McKnight, who commanded Task Force 151 operating against the pirates. “I strongly endorse it. It’s exactly what you need out there.”

Read more: http://www.dodbuzz.com/2011/03/08/scan-eagle-stars-in-piracy-fight/#ixzz1G6zpsq7M

Who is fuelling Somalia conflict?

The russian way vs Piratas somalies/ Video

Gracias a Pepin Baseball por Siempre

Los piratas somalies

Harardhere

Hoybo

Que espera el mundo occidental para acabar con los piratas somalies? Se conocen perfectamente las dos bases de operaciones [Haradere y Hoybo]. Sencillamente no hay que patrullar el Golfo de Aden y las aguas circundantes, hay que destruir sus bases operaciones y bloquear todas sus transacciones financieras.

Un grupo islamista conquista el mayor puerto pirata de Somalia