deployment of the PLA Navy ships in the - Information Resource ...

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To put an end to piracy, the international
community should not only address the source
country or organization but firstly and more
importantly accept piracy as a new brand of terrorism.
Terrorists have already proven their capability to
achieve devastating effects on land and via a air (Iraq,
Afghanistan, North Africa and the World Trade Center).
Their next potential target will be to terrorize large
civilian populations at/from the sea. Piracy needs to
be accepted as maritime terrorism and the
international community needs to look for solutions
beyond joint patrolling at SLOCS to tackle this growing
problem prior another 9/11 at sea.
Scrutinizing Piracy and Maritime Terrorism
Terrorism at sea needs to be accepted and
addressed as a problem intertwined with piracy. This
is primarily due to the fact that many of today’s pirates,
like terrorists, have an ideological mindset and a broad
political agenda. This is contrary to the belief that
pirates operate with the sole objective of financial
gain. The reverse has also been observed wherein
many known terrorist organizations have sought to
develop maritime capabilities to use the sea as their
extension for the spread of terrorism. Known terrorist
groups that operate at sea using pirates’ techniques
are Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Palestine
Liberation Organization, Free Aceh movement of
Indonesia, Islamist groups like The Moro Islamic
Liberation Front, Moro Liberation Front, Jemaah
Islamiyah in Philippines, Al-Qaeda and Hezbollah.
Further examination of the similarities and differences
between piracy and terrorism help understand the
complexity of solving both problems.
Similarities. Close similarities exist between
piracy and terrorism, namely their methods of
deployment and choice of targets with both groups
threatening life and economic activities at sea and
ports. According to Stephanie Hanson in her article
“Combating Maritime Piracy” there are two areas in
which piracy and terrorism overlap. The first is legal
wherein both groups being non-state actors divorce
themselves from their nation-states and form
extraterritorial enclaves. They conduct acts of
homicide and destruction against civilians for private
ends. The second area of overlap is financial with
some pirates are known to fund Islamic terrorist
organizations specifically in Somalia and Indonesia.
(Refer diagram placed at end of this chapter)
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SEPTEMBER 2010
Differences. Piracy and terrorism are
traditionally differentiated by their motive. Piracy is
mostly undertaken for financial reasons whereas
terrorism is undertaken for political or religious
reasons. Whereas pirates prefer to avoid publicity and
use violence as a last resort, maritime terrorists typically
aim for maximum publicity and violence.
Links. The sources of piracy and terrorism are
getting more entangled and there exists links
between pirate and terrorist groups especially within
Somalia. The disturbing trend is that many of these
pirates and Islamist terrorist groups are operating in
the common areas of expand, the Arabian Sea and
South China Sea which have become lucrative
grounds for exploitation by terrorist organizations.
Piracy at high sea is now becoming a key tactic of
terrorist groups and radical Islamic groups with these
groups now focusing on extending Jihad to sea.
Today’s pirates are trained fighters. They are
more violent, aggressive, and operate at high seas
using mother ships and speedboats equipped with
satellite phones, GPS, and advanced weaponry (AK-
47, anti-tank missiles, RPG and grenades) use of which
hint/indicate towards shared training with terrorists.
Major terrorists groups are now feeling the crunch of
funds which have stopped post Cold War and freezing
of bank accounts linked to terror groups as part of
expand. Therefore, terrorists are now relying on
alternate ways to get funding by either themselves
engaging in acts of piracy or outsourcing hijackings
to pirates. In Somalia, Al-Shabab militia, is now
working with the pirates and local warlords to
smuggle arms and ammunition. In the face of massive
international efforts against both pirates and terrorists,
the two have joined hands seeking weapons and
training incentives in return for cash.
Outlook of Radical Islamic Groups Towards
Extending Jihad at Sea
“…Somalia is one of the three main theaters for
Al-Qaeda’s mujahedeen, along with Iraq and
Afghanistan …” Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri
80 % of world’s cargo trade and 60% of the
world’s oil and gas are shipped by sea, making ships
high value and lucrative targets.
Also, with the increased security arrangements
on land and no major corresponding developments
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