According to a piece in the French press, “La stabilite du Kenya menacee par les pirates somaliens” (Pierre Prier, Le Figaro, Jan 5, 2010) many Kenyans fear the country’s recent agreement with the EU and US to try suspected Somali pirates in Mombassa courts may be dragging the country farther into the Somali conflict than it had bargained. At stake, increasing linkages between Somali extremists, pirates and local Islamist groups, and the potential for future Somali reprisals and/or attempts to rescue Somali prisoners held in Kenyan coastal jails. The author notes also that ‘pirate money’ has caused major disruptions to the Kenyan economy, as ill-gotten gains fuel local housing price spikes of greater than 40%. -EDC
Monthly Archive for January, 2010
The US Army recently held a briefing at the Djibouti Chamber of Commerce to inform local contractors about opportunities and processes relating to the provisioning of goods and services to the US Army’s Camp Lemonier, in the Djiboutian capital (La Nation, December 23, 2009). Camp Lemonier’s Commanding Officer is quoted as saying the event was meant to encourage local operators to “avail themselves of the best of the market opportunities offered by the U.S. Army presence in Djibouti.” BBC recently aired a documentary calling attention to a lack of transparency in US military contracting procedures, which tended to favor the importation of low-skill labor from other countries, esp. the Philippines. A previous report, aired in the context of a US reality TV show “Dr. Danger”, portrays the US Army as having extremely good relations with the local population, while the latter BBC report (Fran Abrams, BBC Documentaries, August 2009) claims local impressions of the US military are heavily colored by perceived discrimination for jobs, and lack of respect on the part of the US military for local mores. –EDC
Djibouti’s President, Omar Ismael Guelleh, recently made an official visit to Burundi, part of an ongoing roadshow to sell Djibouti as a location as a hub for land-locked COMESA members (”Djibouti and Burundi coordinate their efforts to build a New Africa”, Al Qarn, December 21). Burundi, according to Al Qarn, looks to benefit from Djibouti’s geo-strategic position at the crossroads of Africa, and Asia and Europe, on the one hand, and the country’s modern port infrastructure on the other. The article notes Djibouti’s strengthened and developing trade exchange with the Gulf Arab countries, and increasing trade with COMESA countries. During his visit, Guelleh praised Burundi’s government for its efforts to solve the ongoing crisis in Somalia, and expressed Djibouti’s determination to work with other African countries to face the most important problems facing the Continent, including food security, AIDS and unemployment, and to improve the position of women, all of which will require an added degree of regional solidarity. –EDC
Al Jazeera’s Akthar min Ra’i podcast library contains an interesting discussion recorded May 20, 2009 between Sami Haddad (moderator), a former Reagan-era official and a Somali diplomat. The question, typical Al Jazeera, “What’s behind the Western anti-piracy armada? Is its purpose really to cut down on piracy, or is the real goal Western hegemony over Bab El Mandeb, as a counterweight perhaps to Iranian influence over Hormuz?” The Somali diplomat argues piracy began with frustration, or desperation, at illegal fish-harvesting by Western, Asian and Yemeni fleets, and widespread dumping of toxic waste, both in the wake of the dissolution of central government control in the early 90s (See also the recently published quasi- fictional diary of a Somali pirate, “Moi, Osmane, Pirate Somalien”, by Laurent Merer, Koutoubia, 2009). Haddad: “Certainly you’re not accusing the the Gulf Arabs of stealing your fish and dumping radioactive waste on your shores–yet they’ve been targeted as well. “No, no”, the Somali continues, “this is just how it all started.” The former American official takes issue with the AlJazeera thesis, as well as the effectiveness of the ‘big boat’ approach to piracy, advocating more effective arming of ships that transit the area. –EDC
Note from Djibouti
Thought to start the blog with a recent post from ‘Iran in the Gulf’:
Iran continues to deploy soft power in the Horn, sponsoring a recent Iranian trade fair (October, 2009), and offering some 1m in loans to finance the building of a new Parliament building and Commercial Centre (funding committed in 2004). On a recent trip, I couldn’t help but notice a group of Iranians in casual clothes waiting in line for their visa-on-arrival. Since when is Lake Assal an Iranian tourist attraction? In the wake of the departure of Royal/Dutch Shell and Total from the Djiboutian/Ethiopian market, local service stations now bear the insignia of OiLibya, a marketing arm of Libya’s National Oil Company. Neither country is a stranger to the Horn, but a strange juxtaposition, next to American and French forces, and loads of Gulf businesses. Further indication of how everything is connected.
What might be Iran’s interests in the Horn, exactly? IRISL, the Iranian national shipping line, sends many vessels through the Suez canal each year, en route to Valetta, Tripoli, South America. The Somali piracy issue is as much a problem for IRISL as anyone else. More interesting perhaps is the above-described direct aid, in places where the US and other countries have a large military presence. If Iran controls Hormuz, who controls the Bab El Mandeb? Western forces based in Djibouti would appear to be the closest answer. Perhaps they want a better view of what’s going on in Yemen, or an entrypoint into the Arabian Peninsula. Or perhaps it’s ’simply’ about cultivating friends in strange places, that one day might be useful.
–EDC
