Abshir Boyah says he has hijacked more than 25 ships.

By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN


GAROOWE, Somalia - Abshir Boyah, a towering, notorious Somali pirate boss who admits to hijacking more than 25 ships and to being a member of a secretive pirate council called“The Corporation,”says he’s ready to cut a deal.

Facing intensifying naval pressure on the seas and now a rising backlash on land, Mr. Boyah has been shuttling between elders and religious sheiks fed up with pirates and their vices, promising to quit the buccaneering business if certain demands are met.

“Man, these Islamic guys want to cut my hands off,”he grumbled over a plate of camel meat and spaghetti. The sheiks seemed to have rattled him more than the armada of foreign warships patrolling offshore.“Maybe it’s time for a change.”

For the first time in this pirate-infested region of northern Somalia, some of the very communities that had been flourishing with pirate dollars - supplying these well-known criminals with sanctuary, support, brides, respect and even government help - are now trying to push them out.

Grass-roots, antipirate militias are forming. Sheiks and government leaders are embarking on a campaign to excommunicate the pirates, telling them to get out of town and preaching at mosques for women not to marry these un-Islamic, thieving“burcad badeed,”which in Somali translates as sea bandit. There is even a new sign at a parking lot in Garoowe, the sunblasted capital of the semiautonomous region of Puntland, that may be the only one of its kind in the world. The thick red letters say: No pirates allowed.

Much like the violence, hunger and warlordism that has engulfed Somalia, piracy is a direct - and some Somalis say inevitable - outgrowth of a society that has languished for 18 years without a functioning central government and whose economy has been smashed by war.

But here in Garoowe, the pirates are increasingly viewed as stains on the devoutly Muslim, nomadic culture, blamed for introducing big-city evils like drugs, alcohol, street brawling and AIDS. A few weeks ago, Puntland police officers broke up a bootlegging ring and poured out 327 bottles of Ethiopian-made gin. In Somalia, alcohol is shunned.

“The pirates are spoiling our society,”said Abdirahman Mohamed Mohamud, Puntland’s new president.“We will crush them.”

In the past 18 months, Somali pirates have netted as much as $100 million hijacking dozens of ships and holding them ransom, according to international maritime groups.

Still, the Puntland pirate bosses insist they are ready to call it quits, if the sheiks find jobs for their young underlings and help the pirates form a coast guard to protect Somalia’s 3,000-kilometer coastline from illegal fishing and dumping.

“Negotiation is our religion,”said one pirate, Abdirizak Elmi Abdullahi.

Puntland officials acknowledge, grudgingly, that the pirates have helped them in a way: bringing desperately needed attention and aid.

“Sad but true,”said Farah Dala, Puntland’s minister of planning and international cooperation.“After all the suffering and war, the world is finally paying attention to our pain because they’re getting a tiny taste of it.”

Last month, after an American sea captain was kidnapped by Somali pirates, donor nations pledged more than $200 million for Somalia, in part to fight piracy.

Since then, foreign navies have increased their patrols and arrested dozens of pirates.

Yet, Puntland officials are doing little about the pirate kings under their noses - reluctant, perhaps, to provoke a war with crime lords backed by hundreds of gunmen.

When asked why they weren’t making arrests, Mr. Abdirahman said, “Rumors are one thing, but we need evidence.”

Indeed, it is hard to see exactly where all those millions went, at least here in Garoowe. There are some nice new houses and a few new hotels where pirates hang out. Dozens of dusty trucks prowl the streets. But not much else.

Mr. Boyah, who lives in a simple little house, explains:“Don’t be surprised when I tell you all the money has disappeared. When someone who never had money suddenly gets money, it just goes.”