Somali militants vow to free pirates’ hostages

The head of operations for Hizbul Islam, Sheik Mohamed Abdi Aros, said his fighters have not come across any hostages yet, but if that they do, the militants will release them along with any hijacked ships. Pirates hold more than 300 hostages taken from ships attacked off East Africa in the past several months.

“Hizbul Islam came here to install Islamic sharia law in this region and fight piracy, which we consider un-Islamic,’’ Aros said by phone. “We hope to curb the dirty business.’’

Sharia is a conservative and often harsh interpretation of Islam. Drugs, alcohol, and prostitutes have flooded Haradhere along with the millions of dollars in ransom pirates have received.

Pirates are armed with rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles but probably won’t fight Hizbul Islam, said one self-proclaimed pirate, Maslah Yare. He said one pirate leader had 60 machine guns but still fled.

“They like life and don’t want to die,’’ Yare said. “Every pirate will tell you: ‘Why do I have to fight? I have enough money to survive.’ ’’

Roger Middleton, a piracy specialist at the British think tank Chatham House, said pirates may simply move their operations farther north.

Hizbul Islam was kicked out of the southern port town of Kismayo by the more powerful Islamist militant group al-Shabab and could be looking for a new base for its operations.

Middleton said it’s not clear whether Hizbul Islam will resist the financial lure of the pirate trade, adding, “These aren’t completely pure organizations.’’

Any mixing of the pirate trade and the more dangerous Islamist insurgency has major implications for the foreign hostages the pirates now hold and for the ability of international shipping companies to pay the pirates’ ransom. If militants take over the piracy trade, ransom payments would end up in the hands of groups branded as terrorist organizations.