Somali Lawlessness Spills Into the Sea

"We're simple shark fisherman who were lost at sea and hoping for a push from the nearest boat," Mohamud Mohamed Hassan, 22, said in Somali through his attorney, who translated the interview. "Now, we're stuck in this David and Goliath case."

"I was just trying to earn a humble living that day. When one of our boats failed, we hitched our boats to the Indians' to be tugged home to Mogadishu," said Mohamed Abdi Fitah, 18, adjusting a long, cotton wrap worn by Somali men.

Somalis say piracy is just one woe on the country's long list.

The country of 8 million has lacked an effective government since 1991, when warlords ousted a dictatorship and turned on one another, breaking the country into a patchwork of fiefdoms. A transitional government formed in 2004 operates out of Kenya and from the southern Somali town of Baidoa because of the lack of security in Mogadishu, the capital, and most of the rest of the country.

Fighting between factions last month in Mogadishu left at least 93 people dead and 200 injured, according to Reuters news reports.

In southern Somalia, the worst drought in a decade has left 2.1 million people dependent on food aid. Wells have turned to a trickle and crops have wilted in the heat after three seasons of failed rains.

Piracy has slowed the distribution of food aid in the region and increased costs of such operations. The U.N. World Food Program said several aid ships have been attacked and that it has been forced to transport relief on dangerous roads bristling with militia checkpoints.

"We have pirates, we have militias. This is not even a country or a place with stable structures. It's like working in an earthquake, even though there's no earthquake," Stephanie Savariaud, an information officer with the food agency, said in an interview in Wajid, Somalia, a dusty town 300 miles from the coast. "Somalia is one of the most complex emergency situations in the world."

In an incident March 13, a food aid ship came under fire at the Somali port of Merca. No one was injured, but the boat was left bullet-ridden.

In another incident in June, Kenyan Capt. Mohamed Shee, 63, a veteran sailor, said his vessel was attacked while delivering rice for tsunami victims in Somalia. Shee said three speedboats pulled up and pirates hooked a small metal ladder to the ship. They boarded, barefoot and carrying machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and satellite phones, he said.

"They robbed all our money. And it went on and on for so many days, my family didn't know if I was alive or dead," Shee said, scratching his salt-and-pepper beard. "I kept thinking it was really sad for those waiting for the food in Somalia."

A ransom was eventually paid, but the boat owner declined to disclose the amount.

Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Gedi said in an interview that Somalia's fledgling government desperately needed help from the United States.

"We're newborn babies, and we need our parents," said Gedi, whose last visit to Mogadishu ended in a grenade attack that killed eight people. "It's not enough just to be born, we still can't stand on our two feet. The transitional government welcomes any U.S. assistance."

The rising number of pirate attacks might force the United States to pay more attention to Somalia, long considered a center of al-Qaeda activities. Although no intelligence has linked pirates to any terrorist group, diplomats and maritime experts warn that pirates could easily be hired to commit acts of terrorism at sea.

In neighboring Kenya, some say they hope the role of their country's court in the case won't lead to more attacks on Kenyan ships.

"When I am at sea," Shee said, "I worry the Somali pirates will strike back at boats that fly the Kenyan flag because they think we are the ones who wanted them behind bars."

The suspects being held in Mombasa will be back in court this month, and their Somali-Kenyan defense attorney, Hassan Abdi, said the case could be the toughest fight of his career.

"I just hope this case is going to get a fair trial based on the facts," Abdi said. "The Kenyan courts could be used to say: 'Pirates, your days are numbered.' "