TDC Security Alert: 20090429

Terrorist-Pirate Links Expected to Increase says Ryan Mauro & Joseph Tenaglia, TDC Analysts

“According to our information, the money they make from piracy and ransoms goes to support al-Shabaab activities onshore." --Andrew Mwangura, head of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme, as quoted in Reuters, August 24, 2008, “Piracy Ransoms Funding Somalia Insurgency.” Given the situation off the coastline of Somalia, it is prudent address the plausible links between East African pirates and radical Islamic terrorists. It is a relationship that while difficult to define is only likely to increase. While such ties are not binding and clashes between the two sides will occur, each can provide the other with financing, maritime assets, personnel, and skills.

Earlier this month, a spokesperson for Al-Shabaab, the Al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group that currently controls southern Somalia, Muktar Robow “Abu Mansur”, praised the ship hijackings carried out by pirates, saying they are “protecting the coast against the enemies of Allah.”. The actions were also praised by Sheikh Hassan Abdullahi “Turki,” a leader of another group called the Ras Kamboni Brigades, as reported by Garowe Online. Turki described the pirates as “part of the Mujahideen [religious fighters], because they are in a war with Christian countries who want to misuse the Somali coast,” although he criticized them as “money-seekers.”

CBS News reported on April 16 that a senior Al-Qaeda operative, Sa'id Ali Jabir Al Khathim Al Shihri, has released an audiotape, telling his “steadfast brethren” in Somalia to “increase your strikes against the crusaders at sea and in Djibouti.” Based on these statements, TDC expects Al-Qaeda affiliated groups to place an increased focus on maritime terrorism. The relationship between terrorists and pirates, although not believed to be formal or collaborative, is not a new development. Al Qaeda has long held the objective of disrupting International trade as a method of achieving their goal of weakening the West. Piracy offers that goal, while producing a lucrative source of funds.

Bill Roggio of The Long War Journal wrote on April 27, 2005, that “The co-opting of pirates by al Qaeda should come as no surprise, as often Islamist groups are engaged in illegal activities to finance their operations. Al Qaeda’s regional affiliate, Jemaah Islamiah, has most likely engaged in piracy, as are the Philippine affiliates Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Abu Sayyaf Group. The pirates and terrorists are at times one in the same, or if not, are in close cooperation.”

An example of this cooperation is provided in a report by The Telegraph on October 6, 2008, which says that al-Shabaab received five percent of a $1.5 million ransom paid to pirates for the release of a Spanish ship. The pirates reportedly rejected a demand by al-Shabaab for a greater percentage of the ransom and for weapons. Ambassador David H. Shinn, speaking at the Somali Piracy Conference on April 7, provided additional information on the links between al-Shabaab and the pirates. A portion of his remarks are below:

“Somalis are exceptionally entrepreneurial. Piracy is a way to make money. There is no evidence that piracy is directly linked to international terrorism, although many Somali groups get a cut of the ransom money. Jane's has identified a close link between the pirates and the extremist al-Shabab group, which says it has links to al-Qaeda. The pirates in Kismayu coordinate with the al-Shabab militia in the area, although al-Shabab apparently does not play an active role in the pirate attacks. Al-Shabab requires some pirates to pay a protection fee of 5 to 10 percent of the ransom money. If al-Shabab helps to train the pirates, it might receive 20 percent and up to 50 percent if it finances the piracy operation. There is increasing evidence that the pirates are assisting al-Shabab with arms smuggling from Yemen and two central Asian countries. They are also reportedly helping al-Shabab develop an independent maritime force so that it can smuggle foreign jihadist fighters and "special weapons" into Somalia.

TDC Analysis:

TDC has concluded that the relationship between pirates, terrorists, and other non-state actors will only increase absent a political resolution ashore and a more effective strategy for the protection of shipping such as armed vessels. Such a relationship is beneficial to both sides financially and operationally. Although Somalia is unique in that it is a lawless state astride vital shipping lanes if such attacks are viewed as successful, one can only expect other groups to adopt these tactics around the world. One need only read the ominous excerpts from an Islamic website posted in April 08 TDC alert to realize a possible Al Quaeda-Piracy link cannot ignored:

"The operations by the gunmen who seized the French yacht and struck the Japanese oil tanker, the Spanish yacht, and commercial ships that ply between the coast of Somalia and Yemen, revealed that the area is beyond the control of the arsenal of the Crusader Zionist campaign, whose fleets and warships patrol the sea and those important passages due to their geographical nature and the activity of the mujahidin in Yemen and Somalia. "The mujahidin succeeded in Yemen by striking Zionist Crusader targets in the sea twice. The first was the preparation for the two blessed conquests in New York and Washington by striking the American destroyer Cole in October 2000; then, there was the French oil tanker Limburg in 2002.

"Now approaching is the mujahidin`s decisive hour to bring the leadership of the Zionist Crusader campaign to their knees and to the mujahidin`s table to impose upon them their terms: to leave the Muslim! lands and surrender their weapons to the mujahidin; to stop their support for the Jewish occupation in Palestine; and non-interference in Muslim affairs or support for its rulers and the unjust, immoral, and corrupt regimes there. "It becomes necessary to develop the battle to include the sea, and as the mujahidin have managed to form martyrs brigades on the ground, the sea remains the next strategic step toward ruling the world and restoring the Islamic Caliphate.”

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- Compiled by the TDC Maritime Team