CounterVortex

From Reuters, Feb. 14:

Militias in Somalia are looting shipments of aid for drought victims and forcing aid drivers to pay bribes, the United Nations said on Tuesday.

Attacks by Somali pirates in recent months have caused aid agencies to start transporting relief supplies over land and the convoys have been subjected to pillaging by gun-toting militias at hundreds of road blocks across the country.

“We need across the board support and commitment of everyone to ensure access and protection so that we can alleviate the suffering of Somalis,” Maxwell Gaylard, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, said in a statement.

“We cannot do so if the food convoys, medical supplies and other critically needed assistance are targeted by opportunists and so called uncontrolled militiamen,” he added.

A severe drought sweeping through the Horn of Africa has worsened the plight of a people whose country barely functions.

Somalia has been without a central government for over 14 years. It is estimated that 1.5 million Somalis are in need of assistance, mostly in the country’s south and central parts.

Amanda di Lorenzo, information officer for the U.N.’s humanitarian coordination office (OCHA), says the security situation in Somalia makes it difficult to have sustainable operations.

“It’s a problem that has been ongoing for years, but the drought has exacerbated the situation,” di Lorenzo said.

An interim Somali government was formed in 2004, but has proved fragile and fractious. It has been unable to rein in the powerful warlords and their militias.

From BBC Feb. 14, via Turkish Weekly:

Somali ‘food aid pirate’ seized

Security forces in central Somalia have apprehended a suspect in the hijacking of a humanitarian aid vessel at the town of Merka town four months ago. The man is alleged to be one of three people who hijacked a vessel chartered by the World Food Programme.

The waters off Somalia are the most dangerous in the world and ships have been warned to stay far out to sea…

The rise in piracy means that aid to the 2m people suffering the effects of drought is now delivered overland – where it is vulnerable to the roadblocks operated by gunmen.

UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia Maxwell Gaylard urged community and political leaders to ensure that food aid could get through safely.

Somalia has had no central government for 15 years and rival warlords have divided the country between them.

‘Ship recovered’

The suspect in the WFP hijacking is being held in Merka’s central prison, according to Nuriyeh Ali Farah, a senior figure in the militia which controls the region.

“More than two dozen security forces from the region surrounded the house in which [he] was hiding,” he told the BBC. “We got the information from our secret services which led us to the successful arrest.”

The MV Miltzow was held for three days last October.

Meanwhile, the trial of 10 alleged pirates arrested by the US navy has begun in the Kenyan port of Mombasa. The trial in Mombasa follows last week’s ruling that the court can hear the case, even though the alleged offences took place on the high seas.

The men have denied the charges and said they did not know why they had been “abducted” from their fishing boat. But Indian sailors taken hostage by pirates have identified the men.

There are no widely recognised courts in Somalia, however, local warlords and Islamic groups have set up judicial systems in some areas.

‘Jurisdiction’

US ambassador to Kenya William Bellamy said the rescued Indian vessel was brought to Mombasa because it was the nearest port.

“I believe under international law Kenya could if it chose take jurisdiction in this case. Other states, however, may wish to take jurisdiction,” he said while on a visit to Mombasa last week.

Reuters news agency reports that a 3,000-ton cargo ship has been towed into the Seychelles port of Victoria, after being seized by pirates off Somalia.

The ship’s captain, Deaa Naseh, said the gunmen had thrown their weapons into the sea after being approached by a US navy ship.

Shipping companies say there have been 35 incidents of piracy off the Indian Ocean coast of Somalia in the past nine months.

The transitional Somali government has signed a $50m (£28m) two-year deal with a private US marine security company to carry out coastal patrols.

However, it is not clear where this money would come from, as the government has not effectively taken office. The security company has not started work.

Now what exaclty coonstitutes “security forces” in central Somalia?

See our last post on Somalia.