索馬里海盜改行 從事其他非法活動

Piracy off the coast of Somalia, one of the world's crucial shipping lanes, has plunged this year because of aggressive military and intelligence steps that have made it too costly for seafaring bandits to operate, regional diplomats and naval officials said.

索馬里地區的外交人士和海軍官員説，索馬里附近海域的海盜活動今年大幅減少，原因是力度極大的軍事和情報舉措使得海盜團伙運營起來費用太高。索馬里海域是世界上的重要航道之一。

The success, however, has had an unintended consequence: The Somali crime lords behind the pirate networks have shifted to other illicit trade, sometimes in partnership with al Qaeda-linked militant groups like al-Shabaab, aiding terrorism in the Horn of Africa, diplomats and intelligence officials said.

不過，外交人士和情報官員説，打擊海盜行動的成功產生了一個意想不到的後果：海盜網絡背後的索馬里黑幫頭目轉向了其他非法活動，有時與青年黨(al-Shabaab)等跟基地組織(al Qaeda)有關係的軍事組織合作，向非洲之角的恐怖活動提供援助。

'None of these operations exists in a vacuum,' said a regional intelligence official who traces terrorism financing across Gulf states. Al Qaeda and smugglers 'trade off the same connections, the same sea routes and the same protection rackets.'

一位跟蹤海灣國家恐怖活動資金來源的地區情報官員説，這些活動都不是存在於真空中的。基地組織和走私者使用的是同樣的關係網，同樣的航道，向同樣的組織交保護費。

In 2011, there were 237 piracy-related events in the waters off Somalia, according to the International Maritime Bureau, which monitors piracy and the effect on commercial shipping. In 2012, the figure dropped to 75. This year, as of Oct. 14 there were 10 incidents--only two of them hijackings.

據國際海事局(International Maritime Bureau)説，2011年，索馬里附近海域發生237起與海盜有關的事件。該組織監控海盜活動及其給商業航運活動帶來的影響。2012年這類事件減少至75起。今年截至10月14日，發生了10起事件，其中只有兩起是劫船事件。

The United Nations reports similar figures. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said last week there had been 17 attacks in the first nine months of 2013 in the Arabian Sea, compared with 99 in the same period last year.

聯合國(United Nations)發佈了類似的數據。聯合國祕書長潘基文(Ban Ki-moon)上週説，2013年前九個月阿拉伯海發生了17起襲擊事件，相比之下，上年同期發生了99起。

Most of the piracy in the Gulf of Aden and the adjacent Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean has been controlled by Somali organized crime lords whose business networks stretch between their homeland and Gulf Arab nations including Saudi Arabia, Yemen, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, according to U.N. and regional diplomats who follow crime and terrorism issues.

據聯合國及該地區跟蹤犯罪和恐怖活動的外交人士説，亞丁灣及鄰近的阿拉伯海和印度洋上的大部分海盜活動是由索馬里組織的黑幫頭目控制的，他們的業務網絡從他們自己的國家延伸至海灣阿拉伯國家，包括沙特、也門、阿聯酋和伊朗。

The Somalis have helped finance pirate ships and have laundered an estimated $400 million in ransom paid by shipping companies between April 2005 and December 2012, regional diplomats and U.N. investigators said.

該地區的外交人士和聯合國調查人員説，索馬里人幫助為海盜船隻提供資金，2005年4月至2012年12月期間，將航運公司支付的約4億美元贖金洗白。

Their profits began to slip in 2012 when navies and shipping companies began beefing up military defenses.

2012年海軍和航運公司開始加大軍事防禦力度後，海盜們的利潤開始下滑。

The international naval force known as Task Force 151 stepped up its use of drones and other intelligence gathering resources, allowing them to better position warships to intercept pirates, said Commodore Jeremy Blunden, the British naval officer currently in charge of the fleet.

英國海軍准將布倫登(Jeremy Blunden)説，被稱為“聯合行動部隊151”的國際海軍部隊加大了對無人機和其他情報收集資源的使用，使他們能夠更好地部署戰艦攔截海盜。布倫登目前負責“聯合行動部隊151”。

Meanwhile, the commercial shipping industry has standardized the use of armed guards on vessels carrying oil and valuable products through the waterways. The practice had been controversial because it contravened common seafaring ways. But it proved cost-effective, say shipping company executives who are reaping the advantages of lower insurance rates as a result.

與此同時，商業航運業已經把在經由這些航道運輸石油和有價值產品的船隻上配備武裝警衞作為標準做法。這一做法曾飽受爭議，因為它有違通常的航運做法。但航運公司高管説，事實證明這種做法性物有所值。這些高管可以因此享受保險費率降低的好處。

Countries have also stepped up legal prosecution of pirates in recent years, adding risk for Somali pirate financiers, who face loss of crews and ships. On Wednesday, a Spanish court handed multiple-year sentences to six Somalis convicted of piracy and arms possession, according to the Associated Press.

各國近年來也加大了對海盜的法律追究力度，令為索馬里海盜提供資金的人風險增大，這些人可能面臨失去船員和船隻的風險。據美聯社(Associated Press)報道，上週三，一家西班牙法庭裁決六名索馬里人犯有海盜及非法攜帶武器罪，判處其多年徒刑。

The only surviving pirate who attacked the Maersk Alabama merchant vessel in 2009--the story on which the Hollywood movie 'Captain Phillips' is based--is serving a 33-year sentence in a U.S. prison.

2009年攻擊“馬士基亞拉巴馬號”(Maersk Alabama)商船的唯一一名倖存下來的海盜目前正在美國服刑，其刑期為33年。好萊塢影片《菲利普斯船長》(Captain Phillips)就是取材於這個故事。

The aggressive military response changed the risk-reward ratio for Somali piracy financiers, who must pay upward of 80% of their earnings to corrupt Somali officials, local warlords and other middlemen, military officials and diplomats said.

軍事官員和外交人員説，這種積極的軍事反應改變了為索馬里海盜提供資金者的風險回報率，他們必須將至多80%的收入用來賄賂索馬里官員、地方軍閥和其他中間人。

In 2012, Somali pirates only managed to rake in $37 million in payments, or about three quarters of the annual average received since 2005, according to a World Bank report.

世界銀行的一份報告顯示，2012年，索馬里海盜只獲得了3,700萬美元的報酬，僅為2005年以來年平均收入的四分之三左右。

'We've put a fire blanket over the problem,' said Capt. William Nault, the chief of staff for the international naval force taking the lead on counterpiracy patrols in the area. 'We've raised the cost [analysis] for them.'

在該地區牽頭反海盜巡邏的國際海軍部隊參謀長諾特(William Nault)説，我們已經壓制住了這個問題，增加了海盜的成本。

Somali piracy bosses, however, have proven nimble businessmen. As piracy profits decreased, they refocused resources on other long-standing illicit operations, including arms smuggling and region's lucrative trade in charcoal made from Acacia trees, according to diplomats and law-enforcement officials in the region who monitor illicit activity.

然而，索馬里海盜的老闆證明了自己是活絡的商人。外交人員和該地區監控非法活動的執法官員説，隨着海盜業務的利潤下降，他們重新將資源投入到其他長期非法活動中，包括軍火走私和該地區利潤豐厚的金合歡木炭貿易。

In a report issued to the U.N. Security Council this summer, diplomats watching violations of U.N. sanctions in Somalia provide evidence of alleged links between the Somali businessmen suspected of running the pirate networks and smuggling rings and al-Shabaab. The militant group is battling Somali government forces and African peacekeepers to try to establish a fundamentalist Islamic government.

在今年夏天提交給聯合國安理會的一份報告中，外交人員提供了涉嫌經營海盜網絡和走私集團的索馬里商人被指與青年黨有關的證據。這些外交人員關注違反聯合國對索馬里制裁措施的情況。武裝組織青年黨正與索馬里政府軍和非洲維和部隊交戰，試圖建立原教旨主義的伊斯蘭教政府。

The U.N. report presents telephone records and other surveillance that links alleged Somali financiers of piracy with business partners in Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in the charcoal-smuggling network.

聯合國的報告提供了電話記錄和其他監聽內容，表明被指資助索馬里海盜者在木炭走私網絡中與伊朗、沙特阿拉伯和阿聯酋的商業夥伴有關聯。

The report also alleges similar business links between these same actors and weapons smuggling into Somalia. Most weapons sales to Somalia are prohibited under U.N. sanctions, as is the charcoal trade there.

報告還指出，這些人與走私進入索馬里的武器也有類似的商業關聯。按照聯合國的制裁措施，大多數武器都禁止向索馬里銷售，木炭貿易也是禁止的。

Counterterrorism officials say that the charcoal trade is one of the main avenues that al-Shabaab finances its terrorism operations and pays for the weapons they use to fight the Somali government and African peacekeepers. The business has grown from roughly $30 million a year in the late 2000s to a business now worth an estimated $340 million-$380 million a year, according to the U.N.

反恐官員説，木炭貿易是青年黨的主要收入來源之一，青年黨以此為其恐怖活動提供資金，併購買武器用於對抗索馬里政府和非洲維和部隊。聯合國數據顯示，這項業務的規模上世紀末約為每年3,000萬美元左右，現在已經增長至每年約3.4億至3.8億美元。

The White House slapped a trade ban on Somali-sourced charcoal in 2012 because of the alleged trade links to al-Shabaab.

2012年，白宮方面以涉嫌與青年黨存在貿易關係為由，針對來自索馬里的木炭實施貿易禁令。

The U.N. investigators complain that while regional governments understand the threat of terrorism financing, there has been no political will to arrest the men at the top of the Somali crime networks.

聯合國調查人員抱怨説，雖然地區政府明白為恐怖主義提供資金的威脅，但政界毫無意願逮捕索馬里犯罪網絡的高層。

The majority of recent pirate trials involve men at the midrange of these organizations or foot soldiers suborned into piracy for their sailing knowledge, a regional counterterrorism official said.

一位地區反恐官員説，最近受審的海盜大多數都是這些犯罪網絡的中層，或是因其航海知識而被收買從事海盜行為的底層士兵。

U.N. investigators have recommended adding these Somalis to an international sanctions list, and some diplomats argue that they should be prosecuted for sanctions violations or terrorism ties.

聯合國調查人員建議將這些索馬里人添加到一個國際制裁名單上，一些外交人員認為，這些人應當為違反制裁或與恐怖主義有關聯而被起訴。