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Pirates Pay Alshabab says CIA head
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Sunday June 19, 2011 - 00:31:11 in Latest News by Super Admin
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Panetta Described the relation between alshabab and Somali pirates as fairly good
Bariga Afrika
Mogadishu
(Sunatimes) The CIA director Leon
Panetta stated to the House of Representatives sub-committee on terrorism, that
piracy off the coast of Somalia is possibly funding alshabab insurgent group
which is in control of most of central and southern Somalia for the past few
years.
Whilst there is no affirmative evidence as yet to
confirm such suspicions, the chairman of the committee went to say “we can’t be
passive”.
Although no link has been established between this
incident and al-Shabab or any terrorist group, a recent report in Jane’s Defense
Weekly identified definite financial links between Somali pirates and
al-Shabab.
Specifically, the pirates in Kismayo often
coordinate with Al-Shabab, although al-Shabab members themselves apparently do
not play any active role in acts of piracy.
Panetta Described the relation between alshabab
and Somali pirates as fairly good
U.S. Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., chairman of a House
subcommittee on terrorism, testified about maritime piracy and the possible
connection to terrorism.
He noted the average ransom paid to Somali pirates
rose from around $300,000 a few years ago to more than $4 million.
"We should be concerned that these payments
may fund al-Shabaab, al-Qaida's East Africa arm," he said in prepared
remarks. "We can't be passive."
He claimed that pirates operate in a space of
around 2.5 million square nautical miles. In January, he said, a top U.N.
official said pirates are becoming "the masters" of the Indian Ocean.
Meanwhile the CIA head and the designate secretary
of Defense have lauded the Somali government for killing al-Qaida fugitive.
White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan
called Mohammed's death "another huge setback to al-Qaida and its
extremist allies, and provides a measure of justice to so many who lost loved
ones."
Bariga Afrika
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Pirates Pay Alshabab says CIA head
Panetta Described the relation between alshabab and Somali pirates as fairly good