Yearbook 2010
Somalia. After some slowdown in the first months of the
year, piracy increased again. In November, at least 20
vessels with well over 400 crew members were reported to be
in the pirates' violence. A number of vessels were released
during the year since the pirates received ransom payments,
usually equivalent to tens of millions of SEK per ship. A
British married couple was released in November, about a
year after they were robbed outside the Seychelles.
According to
COUNTRYAAH, the Somali hijackers have
expanded their territory considerably, in some cases as far
away as the Maldives and as far south as outside central
Mozambique, and have also been reported to have become
increasingly daring and more often resorted to violence.
Several pirates were themselves captured by the naval
vessels patrolling the Indian Ocean. Most were sent to
Kenya, where a special court funded by the UN and the EU was
inaugurated in June, but several were also brought to trial
in, among others. The Netherlands, Germany and the United
States. The Swedish warship HMS Carlskrona left Adenviken in
November after a six-year patrol mission. Swedish officers
participated when the EU began training Somali government
soldiers in Uganda.
Two men of Somali origin were sentenced in December in
Gothenburg to each four years in prison for stamping
terrorist offenses. According to the court, the men had
planned suicide bombings in Somalia. They must have been
members of the Islamist al-Shabab movement, which retained
control over much of the country during the year. Struggles
occurred regularly in the capital Mogadishu, where the
internationally recognized government only mastered a small
area. At least 30 people were killed in a blast attack in a
mosque in May. An al-Shababledare, formerly resident in
Sweden, was reported to have been the target of the attack
but he must have managed. When al-Shabab attacked a hotel
near the presidential palace in August, at least 32 people
were killed, including six MEPs. In November, al-Shabab
archived two spy-convicted teenage girls in public in the
city of Beledweyne.
There were strong abrasions within the weak government
and several ministers resigned in June. Some of them had
already left the country. After a long internal power
struggle with President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, Prime Minister
Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke resigned in September and was
replaced by Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, a long-time resident
of the United States and dual citizenship. It was not until
the end of November before the split Parliament had approved
both him and his government.
The new government, with only 18 ministers, was
significantly smaller than the previous one, but it was seen
as a reinforcement that the powerful Sufi organization Ahlu
Sunna wal Jamaa (ASWJ) was given ministerial posts. The ASWJ
has successfully fought al-Shabab in central Somalia for two
years.
In the generally calm, outbreak republic of Somaliland,
regime change took place under peaceful forms. Although
al-Shabab threatened the electorate, general elections could
be held. Opposition politician Ahmed Mohamed Silaanyo from
the Kulmiye party got almost 50 percent of the vote. Seated
President Dahir Riyale Kahin gained about 33 percent and
resigned. Kulmiye also got a majority in parliament. The
United States announced closer contacts with Somaliland,
which, after nearly 20 years, is still awaiting its first
diplomatic recognition.
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