Rear Admiral Philip Jones, who is in charge of the six warships attached to the European Union Naval Force for Counter Piracy, spoke out as his force struggles against a new spike in piracy attacks.He said that while they had had some success deterring more "amateur" attacks in the Gulf of Aden, the more recent onslaught of hijackings in the Indian Ocean appeared to be the work of new, better-organised gangs, who could range far out to sea in so-called mother ships."In the Gulf of Aden we saw a lot of opportunist attacks from people who are part-time fishermen," Adml Jones told The Sunday Telegraph. "The more recent attackers seem to be more sophisticated, with access to better arms and equipment."
He added that the foreign anti-piracy patrols were merely "scratching the surface", and that the only real solution was for proper security on the lawless Somali mainland.
The spate of attacks in the past fortnight, which included the abduction of Captain Richard Phillips, of the US-flagged Maersk Alabama, comes after a lull lasting nearly three months in which piracy dropped off notably. Adml Jones conceded that that was at least partly due to the recent monsoon weather, which hard for the pirates' small launches to operate in.
The gangs appear to have used the time onshore to re-group and hone their tactics in response to better precautions being taken by ships. Gangs were carrying more rocket-propelled grenades than before, Adml Jones said, and were less easily deterred if a ship put up a fight or used evasive tactics.
He cited the example of the American freighter Liberty Sun, which was rocketed by a pirate gang last week. "They chased the Liberty Sun for more than an hour before it escaped, which shows a new degree of persistence in their attacks."
He also defended the right of foreign navies to deal with pirate attacks with force, despite concerns that pirates may respond in kind. Mr Phillips was freed last week after snipers on board a nearby US naval shot and killed three of his pirate captors, while French special forces shot dead three pirates in an operation to free a yachting crew nine days ago, during which the yacht's captain was also killed. Adml Phillips insisted that it was "the absolute prerogative" of different nations to respond how they saw fit...more..http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/piracy/5178890/Somali-pirates-becoming-more-sophisticated-warns-British-naval-commander.html
Somalia: Clinton Criticizes the Release of Somali Pirates
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/21/world/africa/21briefs-Somalia.html?_r=1
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