Even Somali Pirates Have Flacks

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


The New York Times has managed to interview a “spokesman” for the band of Somali pirates who sparked an international incident last week by hijacking a Ukrainian cargo ship laden with Soviet-made tanks, artillery shells, rocket-propelled grenades, and assorted ammo. Speaking by satellite phone from the bridge of the Faina, which has been surrounded by US naval vessels off the coast of Somalia, the spokesman, Sugule Ali, told the Times that his compatriots were not interested in selling off their haul to ne’erdowells, as many in the international community have feared. “We don’t want these weapons to go to anyone in Somalia,” he said. “Somalia has suffered from many years of destruction because of all these weapons. We don’t want that suffering and chaos to continue. We are not going to offload the weapons. We just want the money.” Twenty million dollars to be specific, though Ali suggested the hijackers are willing to negotiate.

The pirates apparently view themselves as some type of vigilante Coast Guard (they call themselves the “Central Region Coast Guard”) that patrols for boats “who illegally fish in our seas and dump waste in our seas and carry weapons in our seas,” and Sugule said they plan to any prospective ransom proceeds to “protect ourselves from hunger.” He added later, “We’re not afraid of arrest or death or any of these things. For us, hunger is our enemy.”

Interestingly, for a bunch of lawless bandits the Central Region Coast Guard seems to be displaying some pretty sophisticated message discipline: Over the course of a 45-minute phone call, the Times was able to speak with several of the pirates “but they said that only Mr. Sugule was authorized to be quoted.” PR tactics aside, though, pirates will be pirates. According to a “US defense official” quoted by the Associated Press, internal quarreling among the pirates aboard the Faina recently led to a shootout that may have killed three of the hijackers.

Ever the diligent pirate spokesman, Sugule Ali was quick to comment on the report, insisting it’s untrue. “We didn’t dispute over a single thing, let alone have a shootout,” he told the AP. “We are happy on the ship and we are celebrating [the Muslim holiday of] Eid. Nothing has changed.”

WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

payment methods

WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate