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After eighteen months in the hands of al-Shabaab Somali Islamists, Silvia Romano is finally free. A success of our intelligence services, Conte said. The Italian services have worked together with the Turks and Somalis, but how has the plot that led to the launch of the young Milanese cooperative been woven in these long months? We discussed it with Carlo Biffani, security expert.
Why did it take more than a year and a half to close the Roman affair?
A seizure is always and, in any case, very difficult to handle and you must first be grateful to the intelligence systems, in this specific case the AISE, our service that deals with solving problems outside the national territory, for having had the capacity to close the game and bring the kidnapped cooperative in 2018 to their affection. It should also be remembered that the kidnapping took place in a way, so to speak, anomalous, that is, according to what we know, it was operated by Kenyan and Somali elements belonging to local criminals who planned and implemented the action in a daring way, almost irregular, implementing an escape from Kenya to the southern border of Somalia, not without difficulties and aspects handled in a way that would seem anything but “professional”.
So, a criminal matter that then took the contours of a terrorist threat?
It immediately seemed like almost an opportunity seized by local bandits, eager to give up the hostage to those who could then carry out the later phases of the kidnapping in a more organized way than they could do themselves. Indeed, let us recall that the Kenyan authorities immediately approached the investigation decisively and arrested even those who may have been some of the material authors of the gesture.
How did the Italian authorities work?
A first phase of great agitation and investigation followed a long period of stagnation, in which it would seem that our intelligence was aware of the area, even in Kenya, where the Roman was a prisoner, a really very large area in which the Kidnapping gang would repeatedly try to cross the border and enter Somalia, without success with the ease they may have hoped for. The fear of our security apparatuses was that the bandits would try to sell the dreaded al-Shabab Somali terrorist group hostage, which would make it particularly complex to try to open a negotiating channel and that would exponentially increase Romano’s risk. . Be that as it may, Romano arrives in Somalia and we will only know, perhaps, in a few weeks, who supported him and how this group was composed.
In the last few months there have been many rumors, how the trustworthy ones have been neglected?
In these long months, information has been leaked from his hiding place, with our intelligence that has never been released, continuing in the silent but precious work of gathering information, listening to electronic communications (our allies have powerful tools pointed at that area, capable of seeing and listening, for obvious and obvious reasons …) of dialogue with local actors, weaving relationships and contacts with subjects who were able to clarify the scenario and thanks to which to develop a viable strategy Once the danger of leading a group has been avoided Terrorist, who, as it is easy to imagine, is more interested in other aspects besides capitalizing the ransom sum, we probably started to negotiate with some of the kidnappers.
So in the end it was about negotiating a ransom …
It will be good to bear in mind that the idea of ”only paying” is the furthest from the operational reality of events like this. We must be sure of the existence of the kidnapped in life and we must make sure that the figure, certainly considerable, does not end in the wrong hands, since it seems to have happened several times in the Somali theater, which is full of intermediaries ready to take advantage the opportunities that arise. . This means that paying a ransom is undoubtedly the most logical thing that can happen, but to align the various points that make up a chain of events and ensure that everything ends in the best way, there are high-need professionals and operational skills. level.
But the general perception is that Italy is an easy payer in these events.
They lead us to think that ours is a nation that has always resolved this type of situation only by paying a ransom, but I would like to specify how, contrary to what you imagine, also countries that have always publicly shown their face to a grimmer and more ostentatious intransigence by denying any dealings with the kidnappers, then quietly go down to softer advice once they face the problem. In fact, let’s not forget that there are endless ways to find a deal, and that even if you don’t want to pay a ransom directly, you can try many ways to scale, equally attractive propositions compared to money.
Why didn’t you go for an ‘American’ solution? I think about the Maersk Alabama affair and Commander Richard Phillips
Certainly, there is the tactical option of liberation carried out through a Special Forces bombardment, but this is always, by everyone, considered as an “extreme relationship”, especially in an area such as the Somali area, where it will be good to remember, they have already fallen in the field. In similar attempts, highly respected department operators from our partner countries.
