Somali pirates are "not defeated but dormant," says Puntland's Minister for Maritime Transport

12/15/2014 Defence IQ Press
 

Hon. Abdalla Jama Saleh is the Minister of Maritime Transport, Ports and Counter Piracy for Puntland. He is charged with leading the country’s counter piracy efforts by working with the international community to fight piracy inland and along the coast of Puntland. He spoke to Defence IQ about the decline of piracy off the Somali coast and how that has given rise to new maritime challenges in the Gulf of Aden…

Defence IQ: Piracy in the Gulf of Aden has fallen dramatically in the last few years – what are the main reasons for this? What have been the key lessons learned during this period?

Hon. Adballa Jama: The success against piracy is down to cooperation between at us and the international community. We fought with the pirates inland at their hideouts and points of gathering.  We used force on certain occasions; we used religious guidance by preachers stating that piracy is forbidden and any income directly or indirectly is illegitimate and absolutely forbidden. We successfully reached the point that they could not buy properties or marry with the piracy money. Besides that anybody caught by the international armada was given a long prison term. The international navy presence in the area was a major factor too.

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