Lawless Somalia

• Lawless Somalia Returns to the Headlines

The emergence of a virulent form of gunboat piracy off Somalia's shores is just the latest symptom of a country - and region - in crisis.Anyone who's paid even modest attention to the plunge into anarchy of this Horn of Africa nation knows its bumper crops of late have been gunmen, radicals, terrorists and crooks. Now, a high- stakes pirate standoff may finally be bringing the world back for a closer look at the trauma that is Somalia. Somalia's No. 1 export, however, long has been desperate people - including many who die aboard rickety boats abandoned by unscrupulous human traffickers. The country stays afloat largely because of $1 billion in annual remittances from exiled Somalis, but even that lifeline is now threatened by the rising violence.

• Sun-Journal Lewiston, Me.
• October 19, 2008

• ; a Stitch in Time Might Save Our Horsemen the Trouble

Long a fragile state, Yemen teeters on the preci- pice of col- lapse. Ongoing bloody skir-mishes between government troops and opposition tribes portend another civil war. The security implications - for the United States, the region and the world - are grave. Yemen sits astride a major energy transit chokepoint just opposite the already lawless Somalia, while al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula infests its hinterlands. Although its weakness and threats have long been known, until recently we have done little to help strengthen Yemen. Now it might be too late. Yemen is just one example of the need for - and the dangers of lacking - a comprehensive strategy to stabilize preventably fragile states. Pakistan, nuclear-armed and a sanctuary for extremist militants, and Nigeria, oil-rich but de...

• The Washington Times
• July 04, 2011

• Pirates Rule Coast of Lawless Somalia ; Raid Likely Tied to Hijack of U.N. Aid Ship

NAIROBI, Kenya - The violent attack on a cruise liner off Somalia's coast shows pirates from the anarchic country on the Horn of Africa are becoming bolder and more ambitious in their efforts to hijack ships for ransom and loot, a maritime official warned Sunday. Judging by the location of Saturday's attack, the pirates likely were from the same group that hijacked a U.N.-chartered aid ship in June and held its crew and food cargo hostage for 100 days, said Andrew Mwangura, head of the Kenyan chapter of the Seafarers Assistance Program.

• The Record, Bergen County, NJ
• November 07, 2005

• Lawless land; Somalia is so broken-down that a regularly scheduled drug flight is the easiest way in. A reporter goes along and finds ruins, warlords, and a whole lot of guns.

MOGADISHU, Somalia--One clear sign that a government has failed is that no one asks for your passport when you fly into the country. There will, howev...

• New York Times Upfront
• Vol. 134 Nbr. 12, March 2002

• Blackwater Founder Training Somali Troops

NAIROBI, Kenya - Erik Prince, whose former company Blackwater Worldwide became synonymous with the use of private U.S. security forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, has quietly taken on a new role in helping to train troops in lawless Somalia. Prince is involved in a multimillion-dollar program financed by several Arab countries, including the United Arab Emirates, to mobilize some 2,000 Somali recruits to fight pirates who are terrorizing the African coast, according to a person familiar with the project and an intelligence report seen by The Associated Press.

• Telegraph - Herald (Dubuque)
• January 21, 2011

• Ex-Blackwater Leader Trains Anti-Pirate Force

NAIROBI, Kenya - Erik Prince, whose former company Blackwater Worldwide became synonymous with the use of private U.S. security forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, has quietly taken on a new role training troops in lawless Somalia. Prince is involved in a multimillion-dollar program financed by several Arab countries, including the United Arab Emirates, to mobilize some 2,000 Somali recruits to fight pirates who are terrorizing the African coast, according to a person familiar with the project and an intelligence report seen by The Associated Press.

• The Commercial Appeal (2007-Current)
• January 21, 2011

• South Koreans Pursue Hijacked Tanker: ; Warship Unlikely to Launch Assault Because Vessel Is Carrying Volatile Cargo

NAIROBI, Kenya - A supertanker carrying about $160 million of crude oil from Iraq to the United States is believed to have been hijacked by Somali pirates, officials said Monday, the latest high- value bargaining chip for the sea bandits. Similar seizures of oil supertankers in the waters off the coast of lawless Somalia have yielded ransoms as high as $5.5 million.

• Charleston Daily Mail
• April 06, 2010

• U.S. Quietly Fights in Africa -- Continent

NAIROBI, Kenya - While putting few U.S. troops at risk, the United States is playing a growing role in Africa's military battles, using special forces advisers, drones and tens of millions of dollars in military aid to combat a growing and multifaceted security threat. Once again, the focus is Somalia, the lawless nation that was the site of America's last large-scale military intervention in Africa in the early 1990s. By the time U.S. forces departed, 44 Army soldiers, Marines and airmen had been killed and dozens wounded.

• The Commercial Appeal (2007-Current)
• October 28, 2011

• World Datelines

Somalia: Back bin Laden NAIROBI, Kenya -- An Islamic insurgent group that controls much of lawless Somalia has released a video showing its members vowing allegiance to Osama bin Laden, training in dusty camps and slamming Somalia's U.S.-backed president as a traitor.

• Deseret News (Salt Lake City)
• September 22, 2009

• Letters to the Editor

Define lawless During coverage of the recent piracy episode, I watched reporters describe Somalia as a "lawless nation.

• The Topeka Capital-Journal
• April 22, 2009