Accused Somali arrives in US to face piracy charges

Musi's case is thought to be the first of its kind in the US in more than a century.

By Huma Yusuf

posted April 21, 2009 at 9:01 am EST

• A daily summary of global reports on security issues.

A Somali teenager accused of helping to hold an American sea captain hostage after a botched hijacking attempt arrived in New York Tuesday to attend a court hearing. His capture and the prospect of a US trial have not deterred other pirates, who opened fire on two cargo ships in the Gulf of Aden Monday.

Abdiwali Abdiqadir Musi (whose name is also transliterated as Muse) is the only surviving member of the pirate gang that attempted to seize the US container ship Maersk Alabama earlier this month. The Associated Press reports that he is believed to be the first person to face piracy charges in the US for more than a century.

[Mr. Musi] was to appear in a courtroom Tuesday on what were expected to be piracy and hostage-taking charges.

Handcuffed with a chain wrapped around his waist and about a dozen federal agents surrounding him, the slight teen seemed poised as he passed through the glare of dozens of news cameras in a drenching rainstorm. His left hand was heavily bandaged from the wound he suffered during the skirmish on the cargo ship, the Maersk Alabama.

A law enforcement official familiar with the case said Muse (moo-SAY') was being charged under two obscure federal laws that deal with piracy and hostage-taking.

The AP also reports that Musi's real age is unclear. Law enforcement officials say he is at least 18, but his parents say he is only 16. The Christian Science Monitor reported last week that Musi's age could complicate the case, particularly if he is under the age of 18. Proving his age could be near impossible in the disorderly state of Somalia.

According to the Somali news website Mareeg Online, Musi's mother, Adar Abdurahman Hassan, claims that her son is innocent and that he is only 16. Mrs. Hassan has also asked US President Barack Obama to free him.

"I have been looking for him for 15 days and I have traveled to many towns in northern Somalia to look for him, but I heard his news from the media," Adar said.

"My son was not a pirate[.] I sent him to school in Galk'ayo in central Somalia when I last heard from him," she added.

"I request the American president Obama to free my son or to be flown me to New York to hear his case," Adar pleaded.

Political analysts believe "that Tuesday's trial would serve as a deterrent to other pirates who have been harassing ships off the Somali coasts," reports Voice of America.

"Justice must prevail wherever someone is being tried and in Somalia which is a failed state, the judicial system has collapsed and presumably there is nowhere to put them (pirates) on trial apart from in the US..." [political analyst Abdullah] Ali said.

But despite Musi's capture, piracy continues unabated in the Gulf of Aden. On Monday, Somali pirates in speedboats opened fire on two cargo ships, reports the Associated Press. Another group of pirates freed a food aid freighter after receiving US $100,000 from Somali businessmen.

The latest attack occurred at midday when pirates fired shots at a Chinese-owned, Panama-flagged cargo ship, the MV New Legend Honor, said Cmdr. Chris Davies, from NATO's maritime headquarters in England....

In a separate pre-dawn attack, pirates fired rockets at the Maltese-flagged MV Atlantica about 30 miles (50 kilometers) off Yemen's coast in the Gulf of Aden, said Lt.-Cmdr. Alexandre Santos Fernandes, a spokesman for the NATO alliance....

The U.N. announced Monday that pirates had released one ship, the Lebanese-owned MV Sea Horse. The Togo-flagged ship was captured April 14 with 19 crew as it headed to India to pick up more than 7,000 tons of U.N. food destined for hungry Somalis.

On Tuesday, Somali President Sharif Sheik Ahmed said that his government can solve piracy with international financial support to form national security forces, reports the Shandelle Media Network, a Somali news agency. The president made the statement ahead of attending a conference in Brussels Thursday of international donors, who will address funds that would go toward a 6,000-person national security force, 10,000 Somali police, and African Union peacekeepers. Organizers say $165 million is needed.

Meanwhile, other solutions to tackle piracy are being debated by government officials and within the shipping industry. According to The Washington Times, the industry is against deploying armed guards on cargo ships, fearing it would exacerbate the situation.

With Somali pirates seemingly undeterred by the deaths or arrests of several of their members in recent days, some shipping companies "are definitely considering" putting armed guards aboard, said Andrew Linington, head of communications at the seafarers union Nautilus in London.

But Simon Bennett, secretary of the International Chamber of Shipping, told The Washington Times that the "clear consensus view within the shipping industry is that it is not appropriate for the seafarers to be armed, simply because we believe that this will escalate the situation."

Calls to attack the pirates' base camps on land have also been rejected by the US government, reports Reuters.

The brief seizure of the Maersk Alabama and the subsequent hostage drama involving the ship's captain have led to calls from lawmakers in Washington and former military officers for U.S. forces to attack the pirates' base camps on land.

But U.S. officials are wary of any action that could kill civilians and lead the pirates to seek common cause with Islamist militants such as Somalia's al-Shabab group.

Pirate attacks on cargo ships have increased in recent weeks and 17 ships and about 300 crew members are still being held.