WASHINGTON, June 17 (UPI) -- More work is needed to control piracy and ransoms in the Gulf of Aden because of possible ties to al-Qaida, a top U.S. foreign affairs official said.
CIA Director Leon Panetta testified before U.S. lawmakers last week describing an increasing domestic threat from terrorist group al-Shabaab.
Al-Shabaab is attempting to create an Islamic state in Somalia, which hasn't had a functioning government since the 1990s. The al-Qaida-affiliated group has declared war on peacekeepers in the war-torn country.
The U.S. Justice Department linked Minneapolis residents to al-Shabaab and last year indicted 14 U.S. nationals accused of supporting the terrorist group.
U.S. Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., chairman of a House subcommittee on terrorism, testified about maritime piracy and the possible connection to terrorism.
He noted the average ransom paid to Somali pirates rose from around $300,000 a few years ago to more than $4 million.
"We should be concerned that these payments may fund al-Shabaab, al-Qaida's East Africa arm," he said in prepared remarks. "We can't be passive."
He claimed that pirates operate in a space of around 2.5 million square nautical miles. In January, he said, a top U.N. official said pirates are becoming "the masters" of the Indian Ocean.
