Connectivity Must Start Somewhere

Over the weekend Somalian pirates grabbed a Jordanian ship carrying aid to Somalia. Eagle1 has the details of the hijacking. Today there is a bit of news regarding the event, apparently 10 members of the crew are Indian, and the latest act of piracy has prompted a bit of regional interest.

India has sought the help of Jordan to secure the release of a ship, carrying 10 Indian crew members, that was hijacked off the coast of the Somalian capital of Mogadishu on Saturday. The US Navy has offered all help to free the vessel and crew.

"Indian authorities are in touch with Jordan's foreign ministry and transport ministry regarding the hijacked ship MV Victoria," a diplomatic source told IANS from the Jordanian capital Amman.

"Contact with Jordanian authorities over the issue was established today (Tuesday)," the source said.

It is unclear what help India wants from Jordan in this case, isn't India supposed to be the regional power? Maybe not yet.., but what is clear is the report the US Navy is also offering assistance regarding the incident.

According to a statement issued in Mumbai by the Directorate General of Shipping (DGS), the Maritime Liaison Office Commander, US Naval Forces-Central Command, Bahrain, has offered all possible help to free the vessel and the crew members held hostage.

That would be interesting, but other news reports tend to indicate that the US Navy isn't the primary concern for the pirates, the locals are getting a bit restless.

Somali Islamist insurgents will attack pirates holding a Jordan-flagged vessel if calls to release the ship and its crew are ignored, local elders involved in mediation efforts said Tuesday.

The elders said the MV Victoria, seized last week off the Somali coast, was being held near a coastal village, around 500 kilometres (310 miles) north of the capital Mogadishu.

"The ship is docking around the coastal village of Murgane and the elders in Haradere town are calling the pirates to release it or face an attack from Islamic fighters in the region," local elder Ismail Adan Nile told AFP.

Mohamed Hassan Yusuf, another local elder, said a team of elders was planning to hold talks with the hijackers to obtain the unconditional release of the ship and its crew.

"Otherwise, the Islamic fighters have vowed to attack," he said.

According to the news reporting, negotiations between the ship owner and the pirates for releasing the hostages have not begun yet, so the pirates are currently stuck between the US Navy at sea and a pissed off group of Islamic fighters in port. We might be observing the beginning of a trend, this wouldn't be the first time some local elders and Islamic fighters have taken action against pirates. It hasn't happened enough to be a trend yet, but the signs point to a shift in local popular opinion against pirates.

It will be interesting to see how this unfolds. If the local population is rejecting piracy in the region, that opens the door with a shared mutual interest worth the effort to start a meaningful discussion.