Pirate trade keeps Somali towns afloat

 
By the Associated Press
Published: November 20, 2008

MOGADISHU , Somalia — Somalia’s increasingly brazen pirates are building sprawling stone houses, cruising in luxury cars, marrying beautiful women — even hiring caterers to prepare Western-style food for their hostages.

And in an impoverished country where every public institution has crumbled, they are heroes because they are the only real business in town.

"The pirates depend on us, and...


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