Tsunami may have wiped out vicious Malacca Strait pirates<\/p>\n
Paul Dillon, Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Banda Aceh, Aceh<\/p>\n
The tsunami that erased dozens of coastal communities in Aceh,
\nIndonesia, killing nearly 175,000 people in the country, may have
\ntaken a toll on another group that has dogged security officials
\nin the region for years.<\/p>\n
The gigantic wave could also have wiped out a vicious band of
\npirates who prey on ships traveling through the Malacca Strait,
\naccording to a Malaysian agency that tracks attacks on global
\nshipping.<\/p>\n
\"Since December 26 tsunami we have not recorded a single
\nattack on shipping in the Malacca Strait,\" says Noel Choong, of
\nthe International Maritime Board (IMB) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.<\/p>\n
\"One reason may be that the physical assets they (pirates)
\nuse, the boats and the weapons, were destroyed in the tsunami and
\nof course the other possibility is that they themselves may have
\ndied. It's a big question-mark and we're watching the situation
\nclosely.\"<\/p>\n
More than 100,000 ships annually travel the narrow, 1,000-
\nkilometer-long waterway which separates the Malaysian peninsula
\nand the Indonesian island of Sumatra, carrying roughly half of
\nthe world's oil supplies and a third of its cargo. Aceh is
\nlocated at the northern tip of Sumatra.<\/p>\n
Based on intelligence gathered by the United States, Singapore
\nlast year warned that the lack of security in the Strait made it
\na ripe target for al-Qaeda. Security officials suggested
\nterrorists might crash a hijacked tanker into Singapore's port,
\nshutting one of the busiest container terminals on earth.<\/p>\n
They pointed to a specific incident in late 2003 during which
\na large vessel was boarded and piloted for several hours by a
\ngroup of men who stole nothing from the crew and disappeared into
\nthe night, as a possible training-run for a future attack.<\/p>\n
\"They've certainly been talking it (terrorist strike) up a
\nlot, holding all sorts of conferences and inviting experts to
\ncome from around the world to talk about it,\" says Dr. Andrew Tan
\nof the Singapore-based Institute for Defense and Strategic
\nStudies.<\/p>\n
So serious has the problem become that a senior U.S. naval
\nofficer disclosed the outline of plans for the deployment of U.S.
\nmarines and special forces troops in the region during a budget
\noversight meeting in Washington D.C. in April.<\/p>\n
Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore responded by forming highly-
\npublicized joint patrols in the Malacca Straits, sharing radio
\nfrequencies and approving the pursuit of pirates in their
\nneighbor's territorial waters.<\/p>\n
But the patrols had no effect on piracy, Choong said.<\/p>\n
\"Before the tsunami, the number of attacks was increasing
\nnoticeably, despite the presence of the naval patrols, which was
\ntroubling to us,\" said Choong. \"They moved up and down the coast
\nto the most northern tip of Sumatra, they were heading further
\nand further out to sea and even into Malaysian waters. These were
\nvery serious attacks, involving multiple boats being shot at,
\nshots into the bridge, lots of bullet holes in the windows and
\ncrew members being injured and killed.\"<\/p>\n
The IMB, a branch of the International Chamber of Commerce,
\nreported 121 of the 445 attacks on commercial shipping in 2003
\noccurred in Indonesian waters, a 20 per cent increase over the
\nprevious year. Twenty-one seamen died, more than 350 were taken
\nhostage and 70 remain missing.<\/p>\n
Roughly 70 cases of piracy were reported in the Strait during
\nthe first nine months of 2004. The end of the year saw a sharp
\nrise in cases but the IMB will not release year-end figures for
\nat least two more weeks.<\/p>\n
Indonesian authorities blamed the rebel Free Aceh Movement
\n(GAM), with whom peace talks will begin this week in Helsinki,
\nfor the incidents of piracy. Choong says that while it might once
\nhave been the case, evidence collected from crew members
\nkidnapped for ransom indicated a criminal syndicate has been
\nprimarily responsible.<\/p>\n
\"In the beginning, about five years ago, it was GAM, but in
\n2003 there were signs that it wasn't GAM doing it but organized
\ncriminal gangs,\" he said.<\/p>",
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