No links between Somali pirates, al Qaeda: US

The Africom commander General William Ward has stated that he has no evidence linking the piracy off Somalia's coast with al Qaida. But earlier this year, al Qaida has stated that the increased pirates attacks in the Gulf of Aden are because of them! But General William War has no personal knowledge" of that.

Even if there was no connection between al Qaida and the pirates, there is a connection between some of the pirates and al Shabaab, which is linked to al Qaida, and is a specially designated terrorist group by the US State Department. So either way there is definitely a connection between piracy of the coast of Somalia and islamic terrorism.

General Ward goes on to say this about battling the pirates:

"How we do our part will be a reflection of whatever policy determination is made and then, based on that policy determination, specific actions that might involve military activity,"

The US Navy was first created to battle islamic pirates, the Barbary pirates, back in the beginning of the 19th century. I think it's high time the US Navy get back to its roots and start killing islamic pirates once again....

Reuters

NAIROBI (Reuters) - The United States is worried Somali pirates may forge ties with terrorist groups but has no evidence of links between the hijackers and al Qaeda, the U.S. military's Africa commander said on Tuesday.

Africom commander General William Ward told a news conference in Kenya that the international community was looking "very seriously" at piracy, but said it was a complex issue that required collective, comprehensive action.[...]

Analysts say some Islamist factions [al Shabaab] in south Somalia are taking a share of the spoils and using pirates to bring in weapons. There are also fears international terrorist groups may find a safe haven in the failed Horn of Africa nation.

"I do not have any evidence that the pirates have links with al Qaeda. We may speculate and think about it, but I personally do not have any evidence," Ward told reporters.