In a quiz competition, if I am asked, "What is the most savage and lawless country in the world?" My answer would be Somalia. In Africa, I have never seen people like Somalis before. I keep on asking myself many times that "What kind of God do these people worship?"
Is it not the same "Allah" that other Islamists worship and pray five times a day, asking for forgiveness and blessings?
I am very sure that I am not the only person angry about the violent nature of these people, but the whole world, including other Muslims. Somalia is a lawless, poverty-stricken country that has been without an effective central government since dictator Siad Barre's regime was overthrown in 1991.
Even though they have nothing better in that country to boast of, they have destroyed the little they have with bullets from guns.
Even though they have nothing better in that country to boast of, they have destroyed the little they have with bullets from guns.
How could a man be buried to the chest and be stoned to death? What kind of crime has he committed to die such a horrible death? Above all, all those who stoned him, who among them can claim to be a righteous man, who has never sinned before since birth?
How can Somalians rape their women when they know that the Koran speaks against such actions? Actions speak louder than words. From every angle, I believe that these ruthless people have disgraced all the good Muslims in other parts of the world.
How can Somalians rape their women when they know that the Koran speaks against such actions? Actions speak louder than words. From every angle, I believe that these ruthless people have disgraced all the good Muslims in other parts of the world.
Clashes between rival warlords, an Islamist insurgency, and the country's weak Transitional Federal Government are common. "It's a part of the world where life is hard and cheap," said David Shinn, a former ambassador to Ethiopia and now a professor at George Washington University.
People are "willing to take very high risks for very high gains," he said. With piracy, "they figured out a way to do it."
People are "willing to take very high risks for very high gains," he said. With piracy, "they figured out a way to do it."
With the average ransom for a ship approaching $2 million, piracy is one of the most lucrative businesses in Somalia, the BBC reported. In the northern region of Puntland, where many pirates are based, business is booming.
"They have money; they have power, and they are getting stronger by the day," Abdi Farah Juha, a resident of the regional capital of Garowe, told the BBC. "They wed the most beautiful girls; they are building big houses; they have new cars; new guns."
Despite all those crimes both on land and sea, the country remains the poorest and lawless country in the world. "The youth growing up in poverty and violence," explained Africa specialist Ted Dagne of the Congressional Research Service. "They know how to shoot, they know violence; they don't know how to get a job."
Somalia lies at the entrance to the Gulf of Aden, a busy shipping lane that connects the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea via the Suez Canal.
Using high-speed powerboats, small bands of heavily armed raiders ride up to ships many times larger than their own and use grappling hooks and ladders to climb on board. Once on deck, they subdue the usually unarmed crew with automatic rifles and anti-tank missiles.
"Most ships don't carry guns for safety reasons," said Richard DeSimone, president of Ocean Marine at Travelers Insurance, which ensures large shipping vessels. "To ward off a speedboat attack is very difficult," he said.
Pirates are usually not interested in the cargo of ships they hijack; instead, they want ransom money.
At least 14 vessels, including a Ukrainian freighter loaded with Russian battle tanks that were taken last month, are being held in the port town of Eyl, the BBC reported.
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One thing advanced countries and European leaders must be careful about is, these criminals and pirates would one day find their way into Europe and other countries, like Italy, to request political asylum, then later become terrorists and cause terror in Europe.
