'Pirate' death puts spotlight on 'guns for hire'

The death of a suspected pirate off the coast of Somalia has drawn attention to the use of armed private security contractors on board merchant vessels.

The incident, which involved guards aboard the Panamanian-flagged MV Almezaan, is believed to be the first of its kind.

But several organisations, including the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), have previously expressed concerns over the use of armed security contractors.

"While we understand that owners want to protect their ships, we don't agree in principle with putting armed security on ships," IMB director Capt Pottengal Mukundan told the BBC News website.

"Ships are not an ideal place for a gun battle."

One argument is that the use of armed operatives could encourage pirates to use more violence when taking a ship.

But Mr Mukundan said he had seen no evidence that there had been much of an increase in the use of armed guards by merchant ship owners.

Dozens of warships patrol the waters off the Somali coast, but this has not deterred the pirates. The amount of ocean to patrol is extremely vast and pirates have responded to the increased naval presence by moving attacks farther out to sea.

"The naval forces are displacing the threat - they can't be everywhere at once," says Nick Davis, chief executive of Merchant Maritime Warfare Centre, a not-for-profit organisation.

"Almost the whole of the Indian Ocean region - some 5 million square nautical miles - is a security risk."

Prevention

But the shipping industry has, so far, largely resisted arming their boats - not least because this would deny them port in some nations. Furthermore, arming the ships can raise liability issues and increase insurance costs.

Christopher Ledger, director of security firm Idarat Maritime, says the use of private operatives is not necessary and that ship owners can find other ways to protect themselves, such as boosting training, carrying out more drills and purchasing equipment that could prevent pirates boarding a vessel.

"Private security guards are not necessary, they simply muddy the water," he said. "They are often foreign to the crew themselves and they don't know the ship well.
Many are former soldiers that have been in Iraq or Afghanistan and they think they can shake the dust off their shoes and make it as a private security guard. Their day rate is pretty high and the crew have to find ways to get them on and off the vessels."

Their presence, he said, would only lead to "more spilt blood".

This month, international law firm Ince and Co released a report highlighting the issues arising from the use of armed guards. It pointed out that a fundamental question arose as to who would authorise the use of force.

Stephen Askins, a lawyer with Ince, told the BBC News website that the debate on the use of armed guards was one that polarised the industry.

"Most industry bodies and ship-owners are against them," he said. "But no ship with an armed guard has been hijacked, so there are those - particularly those who have had hijacked ships - who think they are necessary."

He said private security companies had come into their own in places like Iraq and had seen seen the maritime sector as potentially lucrative.

"Many have moved across but there is no system of accreditation, so there is no way of knowing the good from the bad," he said.

Legal status

Most security operatives are former British servicemen, but there are also operatives from the US, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Mr Askins said some firms provided armed escort vessels, but that these did not have any status in international law.

"The various conventions dealing with piracy relate to states and their navies," he said. "The rights that they are given, like the right of innocent passage relate to military ships. There are also issues over the use of armed force. The relevant law is the law of the flag state, but a merchant ship could, for example, be Panamanian and the escort ship could be, say, UK flagged."

But he also pointed out that there were some very good companies that had "robust rules of engagement".

"Lethal force for them would come after a series of steps including warning shots. The good companies would follow that procedure. Normally that would be enough to deter an attack."

In May 2009, the US Coast Guard drafted a maritime security directive that would require US-flagged ships sailing around the Horn of Africa to post guards, and ship owners to submit anti-piracy security plans for approval.

At the time, the Coast Guard's director of prevention policy, Rear Admiral James Watson, said that they expected to see "additional security" that could "involve the use of firearms".

He added that they were "looking for things that work but that don't make the situation worse".

The directive has not yet passed into law.

For now, the handling of Tuesday's shooting by a private security operative will be watched closely by legal experts.

An independent inquiry is planned, but first investigators will need to establish who had jurisdiction - the flag the vessel was flying, its owners or the nationality of the contractors - and who was responsible for the security contractors.

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Oscar win for film of dolphin hunt in Japan's Taiji

A film which follows the annual dolphin hunt in the Japanese town of Taiji has won the Oscar for best documentary.

The Cove, directed by Louie Psihoyos, follows activists as they try to gain access to a bay where dolphins are corralled and killed.

The film has not been seen in Japan other than at the Tokyo Film Festival, but distributors say a modified version will open in some cities this year.

The mayor of Taiji, Kazutaka Sangen, protested at the film's Oscar win.

"I think it is regrettable that the film presents as fact material that is not backed up by scientific proof," he said in a statement reported by Reuters news agency.

He said that the hunt was legal in Japan and called for respect for the traditions of different cultures.

Taiji residents say that they have performed the hunt for decades. Hundreds of dolphins and pilot whales are herded into a small bay and either killed for meat or sold to aquariums.

Mr Psihoyos said he hoped that when the film was released in Japan people would "decide themselves whether animals should be used for meat and for entertainment".

In the Japanese version the faces of the fishermen will be blurred and a note added acknowledging disagreement over the film's claim of high levels of mercury in dolphin meat.

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Surprise foreign language Oscar win for Argentina

Argentine drama The Secret in Their Eyes has taken the Academy Award for best foreign language film, giving Argentina its first Oscar since 1985.

It beat favourites The White Ribbon from Germany and France's A Prophet.

"I want to thank the academy for not considering Na'avi a foreign language," joked director Juan Jose Campanella in reference to Avatar's alien language.

The Secret in Their Eyes, set in 1999, tells the story of a man who sets out to solve a murder committed in 1974.

The film, starring Ricardo Darin, Soledad Villamil and Javier Gordino, was Argentina's highest-grossing film in 2009.

The Oscar victory is the first for Argentina since 1985, when The Official Story was voted best foreign language film.

As well as A Prophet and The White Ribbon, other films nominated in the foreign language category this year were Ajami from Israel and Peruvian film The Milk of Sorrow.

The Secret in Their Eyes derives its title from the intentions reflected in the characters' eyes.

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Finishing school for Indian IT graduates

In a classroom in the southern Indian city of Mysore, several dozen young men and women listen rapt to their lecturer, Chhaya Srivatsa.

"If someone is crying, don't keep pestering them to know the reason," she says.

"If someone has got grey hair or wrinkles, don't go asking them about it. It's not the done thing," she adds.

"IST (Indian Standard Time) is not Indian Stretchable Time. If you have no respect for your own time, at least have respect for other people's time," she counsels.

Next, she tells them how to dress on the job, how to speak to the boss and how to avoid slang when writing business e-mails.

The students here are all engineering graduates and their school, set up two years ago, Raman International Institute of Information Technology (RiiiT), is a finishing school for information technology (IT) professionals - some of whom are considered to lack the social skills which could help them get a job.

Ms Srivatsa is teaching them workplace etiquette.

Communication skills

"They spend all their time on the computer, their communication is via technical networking, not people networking.

"Once they join an office, they don't know how to interact with their colleagues, how to speak to each other, their body language and voice intonation is not right, and nobody teaches them these things.

Furthermore, as boundaries blur in business and Indian companies hire for postings anywhere in the world, they want employees who are aware and more tolerant of other cultures.

According to a study done by Nasscom (India's national association of the IT service industry), Indian universities produce 3 million graduates, including half-a-million engineers, every year.

But recruiters say many of them are "not employable".

Those graduating from prestigious IITs (Indian Institute of Technology) and other well known institutes in major cities have good communication skills, they can hold their own confidently in any part of the world, says Mr Kiran Karnik, former president of Nasscom.

"But, a bulk of the recruitment takes place from second-tier universities - institutes in smaller towns and cities. These students know their engineering well, their fundamentals are strong, but their communication skills are very poor," he says.

The problem does not simply arise from spending too much time at the computer but that some students come from less privileged and urbane backgrounds.

'Not suitable'

The IT and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry employs more than 2 million people, and tens of thousands of new recruits are added every year. But those who hire talk of a talent crunch.

Mr Karnik blames the Indian education system.

"These students have been through an education system which emphasises rote learning, they are not taught to think and speak, so the system churns out enough numbers, but not enough suitable candidates."

He says he cannot emphasise enough how important the "soft skills" are.

"If you are working in the back office of a computer firm, you may need to speak to your customer in the US who is 10,000 miles away. You need to discuss a project or a report with him and you have to know how to do it," he says.

The students at RiiiT are from smaller cities and towns in Karnataka and many of them have been through the disappointment of rejection.

"I attended many job interviews in Bangalore. After the first and second rounds, I was told, 'we'll get in touch with you', but then I did not hear anything," says Ravitej who is from Bellary town.

Nayana from Bijapur says attending the finishing school has helped her become more confident: "I'm a shy kind of a girl. I never used to get up and ask a question, but today I learned that it's important for me to speak my mind."

Saba Syed, also from Bijapur, says: "As a child I learnt how to eat a chocolate, here I've learned how and where to throw the wrapper."

'Industry ready'

Maya Patil from Bidar hopes that attending the finishing school will improve her chances of finding a job.

"I've learned how to behave, how to interact and communicate with people. Communication skills are most important, and they will help me get a job."

Founder and CEO of RiiiT SV Venkatesh says his students are good and his institute is trying to make them "industry ready".

"Their aspirations are very high, but they are unable to gel with the culture of Bangalore's posh MG Road. They are not good at selling themselves. I tell them, if you want to become a software programmer, first you must become a salesman."

Mr Venkatesh says companies do train people they hire, but "we try to sharpen their social, communication and analytical skills, we teach them life skills here".

Mr Karnik says finishing schools are a good idea as they can impart a reasonable amount of "soft skills" in three to six months.

"It is not going to replace years of school and college education, but it's a quick way of correcting what's missing, like giving finishing touches to what's already there, but not quite," he says.

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Think-tank calls for VAT change

Politicians should consider imposing VAT on food, children's clothes and household gas and electricity, a report from a think-tank suggests.

Eliminating the exemptions on VAT would make the levy a less complex tax and bring the UK in line with other nations, according to Reform.

The right-leaning think-tank also questioned the structure, simplicity and certainty of the tax system.

Between 50% and 60% of what the average household buys includes a VAT levy.

VAT returned to 17.5% in the new year after being reduced to 15% on 1 December 2008.

Food bill

The UK is one of four EU countries to apply a zero rate to food and one of three to apply a zero or reduced rate to children's clothes, the report highlighted.

John Whiting, tax policy director for the Chartered Institute of Taxation, said that politicians would find it tough in the court of public opinion to cut these exemptions.

There was a strong public reaction to moves to put VAT on fuel bills in the 1990s.

"It would be much easier to put the existing rate up," he said.

But the Reform report suggested that proposed changes to the National Insurance system would "hinder investment, employment and growth".

"Unfortunately all three major parties are committed to the most economically damaging tax rises - those on income and employment," the report said.

"The 50p income tax rate is seen by business leaders as a tipping point for the UK business environment."

Alternatives

As well as the VAT change, Reform said that changes to the personal allowance what also make the tax system simpler.

This would raise extra revenue of £8.3bn in 2011-12 and £8.4bn in 2012-13, compared with the government's plans which would raise £11.1bn in 2011-12 and £14.3bn in 2012-13, Reform said.

Under its suggestions, Reform calculated that households with incomes of less than £17,000 would, on average, see a tax reduction from lower National Insurance Contributions and protection from the broadening of VAT.

Households with incomes of over £17,000 would, on average, see a tax increase due to the broadening of VAT and, for higher rate taxpayers, replacement of personal allowances with a zero rate threshold. Individuals earning more than £105,000 would see a tax reduction.

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Risk of attack remains for Germany

Germans have known for some time that their country is a target for terror.

In 2006, two Lebanese men tried and failed to blow up German commuter trains with a bomb in a suitcase.

In recent years, Islamic militant groups abroad have posted regular video messages on the internet warning of imminent attacks on Germany. The motivation: Germany's military mission in Afghanistan.

But the plot uncovered in 2007 shocked Germans more than any other incident.

That's because it involved native Germans joining a jihad against the West.

Growing up in the city of Ulm, Fritz Gelowicz seemed no different from any other teenager. He enjoyed sports and played in the local American Football team, the Ulm Barracudas.

But he became drawn to radical Islam. He had contact with radical preachers at a local cultural centre which was later shut down. He converted to Islam.

On 5 September 2007, German TV broadcast pictures of Fritz Gelowicz handcuffed and being led towards a police helicopter. He was one of three men arrested at a holiday cottage in the Sauerland region of western Germany.

Also detained was Daniel Schneider, another German convert to Islam.

There was video, too, of what investigators had found in the cottage: barrels containing enough hydrogen peroxide to produce hundreds of kilograms of explosives.

'Monstrous bloodbath'

Prosecutors said that Gelowicz and Schneider were part of a group which had been planning terror attacks across Germany.

Today, Fritz Gelowicz and Daniel Schneider were convicted of conspiracy to murder and sentenced to 12 years in prison.

With them in the dock, in a high-security Duesseldorf courtroom, was Turkish national Adem Yilmaz: he was sent to jail for 11 years and a German citizen of Turkish descent, Atilla Selek, who was handed a five-year prison term.

The judge said the group had dreamed of mounting "a second September 11th" - a series of explosions which would have resulted in a 'monstrous bloodbath', the worst act of terror in modern German history.

The main targets were to be American soldiers stationed in Germany. There were plans to bomb a military base, bars, discos and airports.

The militants were driven by a hatred of America and by a belief that the US had declared war on Islam.

They have been linked to the Islamic Jihad Union - a group which has carried out attacks in Central Asia and which is connected to al-Qaeda.

During the trial, Gelowicz, Schneider and Selek admitted that they had made a "mistake" in pursuing violence and renounced terrorism.

Concern remains that foreign militant groups are actively seeking out and signing up young German converts to Islam to help plan and conduct terror attacks.

Following the arrest of the "Sauerland Cell" in 2007, Germany's deputy Interior Minister Peter Altmeier told me that between 18,000 -20,000 Germans had converted to Islam in the last decade.

That, he said, was "an enormous potential for radicalisation and recruitment."

Four months ago, the German authorities identified a 27-year-old convert to Islam, Jan Schneider, as an al-Qaeda operative who they believe has travelled to Afghanistan with the intention of attacking German military or civilian institutions.

The militants were driven by a hatred of America and by a belief that the US had declared war on Islam.

They have been linked to the Islamic Jihad Union - a group which has carried out attacks in Central Asia and which is connected to al-Qaeda.

During the trial, Gelowicz, Schneider and Selek admitted that they had made a "mistake" in pursuing violence and renounced terrorism.

Concern remains that foreign militant groups are actively seeking out and signing up young German converts to Islam to help plan and conduct terror attacks.

Following the arrest of the "Sauerland Cell" in 2007, Germany's deputy Interior Minister Peter Altmeier told me that between 18,000 -20,000 Germans had converted to Islam in the last decade.

That, he said, was "an enormous potential for radicalisation and recruitment."

Four months ago, the German authorities identified a 27-year-old convert to Islam, Jan Schneider, as an al-Qaeda operative who they believe has travelled to Afghanistan with the intention of attacking German military or civilian institutions.

But Guido Steinberg, from the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, believes it would be wrong to focus solely on Islamic converts.

"As far as the security services are concerned, they don't differentiate between German converts to Islam, Turks, Arabs or anyone else," he says.

"But I think more of a concern today than the converts are jihadists of Turkish origin and the radicalisation of the Turkish community."

Unlike the United States, Spain and Britain; Germany has - up till now - avoided becoming the victim of a major terror attack, thanks to a combination of good detective work and good fortune.

But the conclusion of one court case and the jailing of four men does not remove the danger. Germany remains at risk of attack.

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