It has been reported that in the northern portions of Somalia, far from Mogadishu, a well-equipped military force is being created, funded by a mysterious donor nation that is also paying for the services former CIA, ex-military and ex-U.S. diplomat officers.

The Associated Press determined through telephone and e-mail interviews, according to their own report, with three “insiders” that training for an anti-piracy force of up to 1,050 men is being conducted in Puntland, a semiautonomous region in northern Somalia that that supporters believe have reserves of oil and gas.

According to AP, Pierre Prosper, an ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues under former President George W. Bush, said that he is being paid by a Muslim nation he declined to identify. He says he is the legal adviser to the “Somali government,” focusing on security, transparency and anti-corruption.

This must be another case of a reporter getting his story for his hotel or calling up on a cell phone and then giving a by line with “reporting from the front.”

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Wikipedia reports Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen (“Movement of Warrior Youth”), more commonly known as al-Shabaab (“The Youth” or “The Lads”) is an Islamist insurgency group in the ongoing war in Somalia. As of summer 2010 the group is said to control most of the southern and central parts of Somalia, including “a large swath” of the capital, Mogadishu, where it is said to have imposed its own “harsh” form of Sharia law. Estimates of al-Shabaab’s strength, as of December 2008, vary between 3,000 to 7,000. Some moderate Somali paramilitary groups, or Sufis such as Ahlu Sunna Waljama’a are opposed to this radical Wahabi movement.

Recently Al Shabaab launched a major assault on Mogadishu but does not appear to have taken any new territory in the city, as their forces were repelled by both the government-allied Islamist militia Ahlu Sunnah Waljamaah (ASWJ), as well as a counterattack by African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) peacekeepers. However, the offensive indicates an increase in the scope of attacks by the jihadist Al Shabaab in the Somali capital.

According to stratfor.com fighting appears to have quieted down as of now, but is likely to resume. While an AMISOM spokesman denied Aug. 24 the reports that reinforcements had begun to arrive, he also vowed that they were still on their way, and that AMISOM would “tell the world” when they got there. Al Shabaab is likely to respond by demonstrating its strength in targeting multiple areas of Mogadishu. It also means that plans to relocate Somali parliamentarians and United Nations offices from Nairobi to Mogadishu will likely be set back.

The struggle for Somalia continues

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The piracy activity off the coast of Somalia and the week international responses is now expanding to European waters. According to the International Maritime Bureau, world pirate attacks more than doubled in the first half of 2009 to 240, from 114 in the same period last year,

A surge of attacks in the Gulf of Aden and off the east coast of Somalia accounted for the majority of attacks. This is not to mention the waters off Nigeria and Indonesia.

International cooperation

We now have a modicum of international political and security cooperation including United Nations resolutions.  Additionally, we have new multilateral and bilateral agreements, the United States organized Combined Task Force 151, and independent foreign naval forces including Russia and China.

The U.S. House of Representatives has recently passed an amendment that would require the Department of Defense to put armed teams on U.S. flagged ships “passing through high-risk waters,” This would mean especially around the Horn of Africa.

A separate would grant immunity from prosecution in American courts to any “owner, operator, time charterer, master, or mariner who uses force, or authorizes the use of force, to defend a vessel of the United States against an act of piracy.”

The Defense Department recently released an “interim final rule” laying out policy regarding the use of private security contractors in war zones.

Basically, the “interim rule” modifies the Code of Federal Regulations to include policies and procedures for selecting, training, equipping and overseeing private security contractors.

Rules of engagement

 The Rules of Engagement or “Use of Deadly Force” for DoD have been in effect for a long time:

1. In self defense

2. In defense of property involving National Security (read nuclear materials)

3. In defense of property not involving National Security but inherently dangerous to others

4. To prevent or interrupt serious offenses against persons

5. Apprehension of escaped felons

6. Lawful order from competent authority

Everyone who is concerned with independent security contractors must keep in mind the “Black Water” incident in Iraq. The US government is prosecuting many involved in that incident.

This brings us to the question of what “international laws” are involved in fighting piracy. The simple answer is very little.

There are treaties, agreements, conventions, understandings, etc., between nations or groups of nations but there is no international law. There is the “UN Convention of the Law of the Sea.”.

Although the UNCLOS entered into force in 1994, the U.S. has continued to rely upon customary international law as reflected in the Convention to advance our oceans policy.

Not enough

While reliance upon customary international law has served us well for many years, it does not adequately protect our interests. Customary international law is based on the evolving practice of States; it can and does erode over time. The Law of the Sea Convention provides the legal certainty and stability that the Coast Guard needs to exercise its navigational rights and freedoms, to protect fisheries, and to control marine pollution.

How big is the problem?

According to the US Coast Guard, there are more than one million seamen of every nationality aboard nearly 95,000 vessels of at least 100 gross tons flagged in more than 150 nations.

They move millions of passengers and billions of tons of cargo around the world every year.

The problem of Somali piracy at sea can be resolved only when someone in the international community takes military action to address the safe haven of Somali pirates and their support bases onshore.

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