Best way to tackle pirates ‘may be on land’

How best to hunt pirates in the seas off Somalia is a question that’s got officials from the four corners of the earth scratching their heads. 15 warships from NATO, Russia, India and Malaysia are in a game of nautical cat-and mouse with organised, well-equipped and well-armed bandits.

For many analysts the cause of the piracy problem lies on dry land. Anette Weber, an expert on Africa for the Foundation for Science and Politics in Berlin explains: “When you think that since 1991 there has been no way of earning good money legally, because Somalia is a dysfunctional state, where ports and airports cannot levy taxes, then you have to ask ‘how can you deal with that?’

In this respect I think it’s clearly not enough to send a fleet out to sea.” After NATO’s meeting in Brussels on Wednesday, officials from countries around the Red Sea held talks in Cairo on Thursday to discuss anti-piracy measures.

Russia has already evoked the need to strike on land, where many young Somalis are tempted by the money to be made. Those holding the Sirius Star, the pirates’ biggest bounty yet, are demanding 20 million euros from the supertanker’s owners.