Unrepentant pirate shows how far world has to go to curb growing scourge

Farah Ismail Idle has three years left to serve in prison after being convicted of piracy, but intends to head right back to sea when he is released, to be revenged on foreign firms that he says overfished Somali waters and polluted them with toxic waste.

Inmates at the new Hargeisa prison, now home to many convicted Somali pirates.

HARGEISA, Somalia // Farah Ismail Idle has only one regret about being a pirate: getting caught.

Idle, who has three years left to serve in prison after being convicted of piracy, said he cannot wait to head back to sea, a desire he reiterates every chance he gets, whether to his cellmate or the prison guards.

"When I finish my sentence in prison, I will go back and resume my business," he says.

The resolve of Idle and other convicted pirates suggests that the international community will have to offer far more carrots - and wield a far larger stick - if it is to stem the growing problem of piracy. Pirates have seized 14 ships and 250 crew so far this year. All told, they now hold 28 vessels and 587 crew hostage, according to the International Maritime Bureau.

Certainly, there are some carrots. The government of Puntland, the central region of Somalia and a hub of piracy, has joined with a nonprofit group called Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) to run a rehabilitation clinic for pirates.

Since last May 50 convicted pirates have graduated from the three-month course, which taught them to be electricians, carpenters and masons. However, this kind of programme "cannot address all the problem," said Yusuf Abdulkadir, an official for the aid group.

There are some sticks, too, in the form of prison construction, particularly in Somalia.

Since 2008, authorities in 17 countries have arrested or sentenced 950 pirates, the United Nations says. But many governments are reluctant to carry out prosecutions because they do not want to bear the cost or risk of keeping the convicted pirates in jail.

In a bid to address that problem, the UN last month opened a 460-bed prison in Hargeisa that will house pirates and other criminals. It also is set to complete a 60-bed prison in the Seychelles in a few months and hopes to build several more jails in Somalia.

The message behind the jail construction is simple, said Alan Cole, head of the UN's counter-piracy programme: "There's a good chance if you go to sea you'll get arrested and spend the bulk of the rest of your life in a prison."

Nevertheless, Idle, the unrepentant pirate, illustrates how far the international community has to go in order to curb the growing scourge.

Before he was caught by Somaliland's coast guard, convicted and jailed, Idle, 38, spent four years trolling the Indian Ocean for ships. He organised men, food, ladders, pistols, AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades, he said. He denies actually hijacking a ship.

But like many Somalis, Idle justifies piracy as an answer to foreign firms that he said overfished Somali waters and polluted them with toxic waste.

"I call them 'pirates' because they invaded my sea," he said.

By hijacking ships, Somalis seek revenge and international attention to their languishing fishing industry, he said.

"Our plan was twofold: first to hijack them, then ask for ransom. And the world would be alert - would know why we are doing this."

Now, Idle is keen to serve out his sentence and resume work in what he describes as a booming business.

"The people who are going to the field are getting more," he said. "In the beginning the ransom was around $500,000, but day-by-day it's increasing."

"I am not giving up," he said. "More pirates, more happiness."